Batmen
by toomanystories
Summary: In a not too distant future, there is no Batman to protect Gotham. After killing the last man to become Batman, a twisted army of criminals called the Jokerz have taken control of Gotham, and enslaved its people. With no one to get in their way, the Jokerz have created their own society. But what would happen if the Bat returned, this time in greater numbers?
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

The title of Batman had been passed on for generations. Bruce Wayne was the spark to a fire that burned for decades. A fire that, like all flames, had to burn out eventually.

A fire that burned out with the death of Chance Whidmore, the last Batman.

Gotham City was finally slipping from Batman's reign of justice. The Jokerz, a clan of twisted criminals who worshipped the original Joker, were slowly taking control of Gotham.

The concept of another Robin was out of the question. The men Batman dealed with were too dangerous. Chance was alone, facing an army of mentally insane freaks.

But he had an idea. Cloning.

Batman realized that if he could create duplicates equipped with all of his memories,

then there was a chance for Gotham. He could regain control.

So, with the help of Wayne Industries, longtime financer for the Batman, Chance began the production of an entire squad that would grow up to be him. That was the plan. But not all plans follow through.

In a horrible incident, the Jokerz infiltrated Wayne Headquarters as Chance pulled the first clone out of its generative pod. The infant was healthy, and Chance was alerted that Jokerz had infiltrated the building.

Chance ran to the second pod, desperate to save the children, but that was when a Joker blew open the vault door, with a gun trained at Batman.

With no other options available, Batman grabbed the first infant, and ran away from the lab.

The Jokerz, realizing that Wayne Enterprises was affiliated with the Batman, stormed anything related to Bruce Wayne, included Wayne Manor, home to all of the men who donned Batman's suit.

Surprised, Chance was killed off as his home was destroyed. But the one child he saved was nowhere to be found.

But this child never grew up to become Batman. There was never a Batman again. In a few years' time, the Jokerz took control of Gotham completely. The legend of the Batman disappeared, and eventually became forgotten. There was no Bat. Only the Joker's legacy lived on, while Gotham rose as an independent nation under Jokerz rule.


	2. Courage

Jack Dominic never understood why he deserved to grow up in a place like Gotham City.

His parents, Martha and Roger dominic, were good people.

He was a good person. Never misbehaved as a child. Followed the rules.

So why did he deserve to live in an independent nation run by the Jokerz? Why did anyone deserve to see that wicked grin on the masks of their supervisors every day, as they slaved away doing whatever horrendous job they were assigned to?

These thoughts clouded Jack's mind as he ate lunch during his break, hearing the shouts of a man being whipped in the background.

Every day, someone got whipped. Usually for messing up their job or mouthing off.

Jack bit into his sandwich, the stale bread sticking to his teeth as the cracking of the whip filled his ears. He had put up with this for 22 years. 22 years too many.

He stood up, and threw his sandwich on the ground. He looked up to the back of the food court, a dirty, smelly place that might've actually been a real place to eat years ago.

Past the crumbling, rusting lines of tables, cowered a man in overalls, in the shadow of a Joker guard.

The plastic mask portraying Gotham's worst enemy reflected the flames that lit the room wickedly, as the man mercilessly whipped at the poor worker at his feet.

"STOP!" yelled Jack, directing everyone's attention to him.

The lunchtime crowd silenced.

The guards up above in their watchtowers, armed with rifles, suddenly looked away from their usual spots to see what was happening.

"Wassamatter?" asked the Joker with the whip, slowly turning his masked face toward Jack. "Don't like it when justice is served?"

The worker on the floor scrambled away. The whipper cracked his weapon, still looking at Jack, and nailed the man. The worker fell to the ground, unconscious.

"None of this is justice," said Jack, his knuckles white. "What you're doing here is wrong! All of it!"

The Joker laughed, and began to walk slowly towards Jack.

But Jack was no coward. He stood his ground.

"Look, kid," the Joker growled, lifting Jack up by his neck. "If you gotta problem with the way things are run around here, you can go talk to Mister J. Is that really what you want?"

Struggling to breathe, Jack croaked, "No..."

The Joker dropped him, and kicked him in the groin.

The Joker laughed as Jack doubled over.

The man said, "Next time, you won't be so lucky."

After recovering, Jack went back to work, folding the Jokerz' cleaned uniforms.

At 10 p.m., his shift ended, and he walked away from the massive prison that the Jokerz converted into their own personal appartment building.

He hopped on his bike, the only form of transportation the Jokerz allowed the citizens to use, and began to ride home.

He was nearing home when a car slowed next to him, the window rolling down.

"Hey look, Mikey! It's that guy from work!" squeaked the Joker in the passenger seat, jabbing his finger in Jack's direction.

Mikey, the driver, turned his dirty Joker mask towards Jack.

"Shoot him."

The passenger pulled out a pistol, and Jack began to pedal harder than he had ever done before.

Like this was some kind of game, the Jokerz slowly cruised behind him, firing off round after round. Jack couldn't tell if this was a prank to them or if they were just trying to make his end more terrifying.

He pedalled faster, sharply turning a corner, past the ruins of old Wayne Manor.

Laughing, the Jokerz sped up, now right beside Jack.

"HAVE A NICE TRIP, SEE YA NEXT FALL!"

Mikey shoved Jack off the road, and into a deep ditch.

Laughing hysterically, the Jokerz drove off, leaving Jack tumbling down a tunnel.

It sloped downward slowly, and he collided with a rusted metal door.

"OUCH!" he shouted, looking at the door.

It was some kind of high-security vault, by the looks of it.

He knocked on the door, and jumped back as it rumbled open.

Curious, he slowly crept forward. He looked through the doorway, and couldn't believe his eyes as a walkway slowly lit up with overhead lights.

Jack crept inside, onto a catwalk that stretched over the spikey floor of the cave.

He stepped off, onto a metal platform, facing a collection of computer monitors stacked together on a wide desk with a high backed chair.

"What is this?" Jack whispered, cautiously sitting down.

Bats squeaked in the distance.

Jack wiped the dust off of the desk, revealing a bat-shaped insignia on the metal surface.

He put his hand on the bat, and it glowed blue. The screens booted on, and an electronic voice said, "Welcome. Batcomputer is online."

Behind him, more lights flashed on, revealing more walkways.

The next led to a wicked car, and others branched off, showcasing random technology and... _costumes_?

Jack got up, and walked past the car. Past the Bat-themed weapons.

He stopped in front of a line of glass display cases. The first case held a bizarre Bat-Suit, made of flimsy materials. The next held a suit fit for a kid, complete with yellow cape and green mask. On the chest there was a badge with the letter R.

There were other suits, for women and men, beside these.

Jack inspected each one, and then he saw one that really grabbed his attention.

_Armor_. There was a suit made of metal, that resembled the first suit Jack saw.

Jack looked around him. And then it hit him.

He hadn't just stumbled upon some bizarre stash of weapons. He had stumbled on what he needed to overthrow the Jokerz.


	3. The Batcave

The fact that the Jokerz were too lazy to fold their own laundry greatly disturbed Jack.

Together, he worked with his best friend, Nick Stacy, at the "clean laundry post."

After being washed and dried, all of the Jokerz' clothes were sent to the clean laundry station to be folded neatly and delivered to their owners' rooms.

Jack was in the middle of folding a pair of boxers when he decided to check if there were any guards within hearing range.

When he was sure the coast was clear, Jack said quietly, "I found something yesterday."

Nick flopped a stained t-shirt onto a pile he was building up. He looked at Jack, scrunching his eyebrows.

"You found something?"

"Yeah," said Jack, tossing socks into a clean laundry basket. "Something... _special._"

Nick shook his head. "I think all the stink from this 'clean' laundry is getting to ya, Jack."

Jack smiled, and then leaned in to Nick's ear.

"I think I found something we could use against the Jokerz."

He went back to work, glancing over his shoulders.

Nick sat there, dumbfounded, with a pair of shorts suspended between his hands.

"_WHAT DID YOU FIND?_" he whispered loudly.

"I... I don't really know what it was, to be honest," Jack said. "This Joker punk shoved me off the road, and I fell into some kinda secret passageway or something. I found my way into some cave, full of Bat-themed crap. _LOADS_ of it."

Nick said, "Loads of Bat-themed crap? I think the sweaty fumes really are getting to you!"

Jack frowned. "We're living under the rule of psycho clowns, and you can't believe that there's a cave under Wayne Manor full of Bat-stuff?"

"You found this under Wayne Manner?" asked Nick, his attention now completely with Jack.

"Yeah," said Jack. "It had to be. This cave was massive."

Nick rubbed his face with his hands.

"I want to see it."

"What?"

"This cave. I want proof."

"Alright. When work's over, I'll show you the cave."

"Sounds like a plan," said Nick.

Another day completed, Nick and Jack hopped on their bikes at 10 p.m.

"Follow me, but keep some distance. Make it look like we're heading the same way, but not together."

"You got it," said Nick.

Together, they rode off. Keeping a few meter's distance behind Jack, Nick wasn't sure how to look at this situation. Jack, his friend since they got assigned laundry duty together, had never been one for practical jokes. He was a truthful man. But this bat-business seemed fishy. Why would Bruce Wayne keep a Bat Cave?

Suddenly, Jack stopped in front of a ditch.

Nick pressed his breaks, and walked his bike over to the dirt hole in the ground.

"So this is 'the Bat-Cave?' A ditch?"

"Come on," said Jack. "Bring your bike. We don't want to arouse any suspiscion."

Nick looked up at the crumbling remains of Wayne Manor, up above.

Leading the way, Jack crept through the tunnel, almost slipping a few times.

"Here it is," he said, reaching the door.

Jack knocked, and the door creaked open once again.

"How'd you know that pattern?" asked Nick.

"What pattern?"

"The knock. You just knocked a code."

Jack frowned. "Huh. Lucky guess?"

Nick shrugged, and followed him into the cave.

"Holy..." Nick started to say, as the lights lit up the cave.

Jack smiled. "Impressive, right?"

Nick sat down at the computer, cracking his knuckles.

"What are you doing?" asked Jack.

"I'm going to see _why_ Bruce Wayne needed all this. And _why_ it's just been sitting here this whole time."

Jack left Nick to his work, walking over to the suits again. It was obvious that major money was put into all this. Bruce Wayne must have been the financer for whoever this crazy guy was.

"Batman," called out Nick.

"What?" asked Jack, turning away from the suits.

"He called himself Batman. Here, you _need _to see this."

Jack rushed over to the computer.

Things were happening on every screen.

One monitor showed a man dressed in the first suit, fighting off a chubby man resembling a penguin. Another showed a boy wearing the red, green, and yellow suit, tackling armed thugs. Others showed the car speeding down the streets.

"Batman," repeated Jack, the word tasting good on his tongue. Batman was hope. Batman was the answer to the Jokerz problem.

Nick brought up a menu, and typed "Bruce Wayne" into the search bar.

The image of a young Bruce Wayne appeared.

"This guy didn't just fund Batman," exclaimed Nick. "He was the _first_ Batman!"

"What!?" asked Jack, stepping closer to the screens.

"It says here that after Bruce was done, he passed on the suit to a new person. Sometimes, a Batman would promote their sidekick, Robin, to replace them. Some Robins took their own paths, such as.. Nightwing? Where did they get these names?"

"Sounds cool to me," said Jack.

Nick shrugged.

"Come on, let's check out some of the gear," said Jack, patting Nick on the shoulder. "You can read later."

Nick followed Jack over to a large drawer. Pressing the button on top, the drawer slid open with a hiss.

Inside were various tools. A three-bladed gauntlet. Bat-shaped ninja stars. A grappling gun.

"Batman was loaded," laughed Nick.

"Tell me about it," said Jack, picking up the grappling gun.

As Jack examined it, Nick backed up.

"Careful with that thing."

Jack aimed it upward, and pulled the trigger.

A claw shot forward, clinging to the cave roof.

Yanking it backward, chunks of rock crumbled downward.

Nick grabbed a batarang.

"Let's see what this bad boy can do."

With a flick of his wrist, Nick sent the blade into the wall, and it stuck there.

With some effort, Nick pulled it back out to see that it had created a clean, deep slice in the rock.

"I think we should take this stuff for a test drive," said Jack, eyeing the suits.

"Nuh-uh," replied Nick, waving his finger. "Not 'til I read _every_ detail."

Jack said, "Alright. But what am I supposed to do, then?"

Nick waved his question away. "Go home. Get some rest. I'll stay here and read up on all this. And then, tomorrow, we can go for a test run."

"Okay," said Jack. "See you later."

Nick read late into the night. The history of Batman was even crazier than the Jokerz.

The information he read stated that the original Batman had fought all sorts of foes, normal and superpowered. Catwoman was Nick's favorite of the rogue's gallery.

He was in the middle of reading about the beginning of Chance Whidmore's turn to fight of the rising Joker forces, when he heard noise outside.

"What's this? A bike sitting in a ditch? Looks like a tunnel that leads to somethin'. Don't sweat it, Mikey. I'll check it out if you're 'too scared.'"

The Jokerz were here.


	4. A Revelation

Nick could not risk revealing the Bat Cave.

"This better work," he grumbled, walking away from the computer, over to the elevator at the other end of the cave.

He pressed the up key, and the elevator opened.

Nick stepped inside, and the elevator slowly rose up, into the remains of Wayne Manor.

With a ding, the elevator doors slid open, to a ransacked living room.

Stepping out of the elevator, Nick watched as a book case slid over the doorway, perfectly hiding the Batcave's entrance.

Nick walked out of the room, passing spray painted messages and graffiti, into the crumbling main entrance.

Nick shook his head in shame, disappointed that such a nice place had to go to waste.

He walked out the front door.

"AYE! LEO! THERE'S SOMEBODY COMIN' OUTTA THE MANSION!" yelled a Joker. He was sitting in a car outside of the ditch.

Suddenly, Leo, Mikey's partner, scrambled out of the hole and dusted the dirt off of his overalls.

"Whattaya doin'?" yelled the Joker, waving his ragged purple glove in the air.

"Just thought I'd check out this old place. Didn't know it was a crime to do something when I'm off work," said Nick.

Leo tilted his head.

"Well, why's there a bike in this ditch?"

"I... Uh, I hid it there so nobody would steal it."

"Steal it?" shouted Mikey.

"Yeah," improvised Nick. "You never know what'll happen in this town."

Too stupid to see through the obvious lie, Leo gestured with his fingers pointing at his eyes and then toward Leo. _I'm watching you._

The Joker hopped back in his car, and they drove off.

"_Whew_," whistled Nick, walking back into Wayne's house.

He walked back to the elevator, when something cracked under his foot.

Nick frowned and bent over, picking up the picture frame he just smashed.

"What the?"

In his hands, the cracked frame contained a picture that made no sense.

His friend, Jack, was in it. He stood beside an old man, smiling. They were both wearing suits, and they were standing outside... of _Wayne Manor_ when it was still intact.

Nick rushed over to the bookcase.

"How do I get that elevator..."

He carefully examined the books.

They were all organized neatly, except for a single volume that sat upside down.

Scratching his chin, Nick pulled it, and the bookcase slid away.

"The life of a Batman," laughed Nick, stepping into the elevator.

At home, Jack could not sleep.

His shabby apartment at Jokerz Inn never felt like home.

There was always something _off_, as if he was never meant to live here.

It wasn't any more impressive than his parents' larger apartment down the hall, but their place never felt like home either.

It was odd, but Jack realized that the only place that ever felt like home was that weird cave he found yesterday. Why was that?

He kept rolling over these thoughts for hours. He thought he'd be relaxed if he could just fall asleep. He was wrong.

In a dream, he found himself in some kind of pod.

A glass shield sat above him, as a dark figure stepped into view.

With the press of a button, the shield slid away, and he was lifted into the arms of... _The Batman?_

Jack sat up, breathing heavily. Sweat rolled down his face. That wasn't just a dream. It was too real. That was a _memory._

The next day, after the same routine of folding laundry, eating lunch, and bike riding away, Nick led the way this time to the Bat Cave. Nick said he found something that Jack had to see.

"This time, bring the bikes _INTO_ the cave," said Jack.

Again, without realizing, Jack knocked out the code and the doors opened.

"How _do_ you do that?" asked Nick.

"I don't know," replied Jack irritably.

Inside the cave, Nick rushed over to the computer, grabbing a smashed picture frame off of the desk.

"Look at this," said Nick, holding the picture out.

Jack grabbed it, and his eyes widened. It was a picture of him, standing outside of Wayne Manor before it was destroyed.

"How is this possible?" asked Jack.

"And who's this old man in the picture?"

Nick rubbed his hands together, booting up the "Batcomputer."

The screen flickered on, and he feverishly typed a name into the computer's database.

"I decided to investigate," he said.

"And look what I found."

A picture came up, of a man wearing the newest suit in the line-up Jack found.

"Who?" asked Jack, watching video clips of the man gliding around Gotham and punching out Jokerz.

"This is the scary part," said Nick, hitting a button.

The page changed, showing a profile of Jack. Only, it wasn't Jack. The person was labelled as "Chance Whidmore."

"What is this? Why does it have me listed as 'Chance Whidmore?'"

"This is going to sound weird," said Nick. "But he isn't you. You're _him_."


	5. The Legend Returns

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY 'I'M HIM?'"

Nick looked away from Jack awkwardly.

"I told you it was going to sound weird."

"How is that possible? He died before I could walk!"

"That's what makes me sure of this," said Nick.

Typing some more, he said, "I found a top-secret file. Apparently, Chance didn't have time to train a new Batman. He was getting old. So he dared to try something crazy: _cloning._"

Jack burst out laughing. "You think I'm a clone? That's ridiculous! I have parents!"

Nick shook his head. "Explain that picture, then. Because that's Charles, and he sure looks like you, standing next to the Batman who served before him."

Jack shook his head. This was fake.

"So he only made one clone?"

"Actually," Nick began, scrolling through a document. "He attempted... Excuse me, succeeded, in creating an entire squad of little Batties. But his operation was compromised by the Jokerz, who Chance believed killed his genetic children after he only had time to save one. The Jokerz realized that Wayne's business had financed Batman's cause all along, and stormed Wayne Manor to kill the Batman and his clone. But they only found Chance here, with the baby nowhere to be found."

Jack's head was spinning. There was no way any of this could be true. But at the same time, it explained so much.

He had always hated the Jokerz for reasons beyond what they did to him every day. He always felt out of place.

And the dream he had last night. That must have been Batman rescuing him from the Jokerz.

"But how can any of this be?" asked Jack. "I have _parents_."

Angry, Jack rode away, back home. There was only one thing he needed to confirm this insanity.

Running up the stairs to his floor, Jack thought through what he was going to say to his parents. _"I think I'm Batman and you guys are liars."_ was definitely not the way to go with this. He couldn't tell them about the Bat Cave. Or that he was actually Batman.

Slowly, he walked to his parents' apartment. He knocked. No answer.

"Mom? Dad? It's Jack!" he called. Still no answer.

What was going on? They were always home around this time.

Jack rammed the door, panicking.

The door flew open, as light from the hallway crept into the dark room.

"Anybody home?" Jack asked, flicking on the lights.

The dirty apartment came into view. The kitchen table was flipped, papers lay scattered on the floor, and spray painted graffiti covered the walls and ceiling.

On the counter, under the hanging pots and pans, was a note.

_To Jack Dominic: _

_Mommy and Daddy didn't pay their bills. Now they'll have to pay the price._

_Sincerely,_

_Mister J (HA HA HA)_

Nick jumped when the Batcave's underground entrance suddenly opened, Jack rushing in.

"Power up the Batsuit. It's time."

Nick's eyebrows scrunched and his mouth hung open.

"What happened? You look like you're ready to take on an army."

"That's because I am."

Impressed, Nick opened up the case surrounding the latest Batsuit.

Pressing the Bat logo on its chest, red light illuminated the suit.

The eyepieces on the mask lit up, along with the bat logo and random details around the suit.

Pulling the suit out of the case, Nick handed it to Jack.

"Suit up!"

Gotham was once a proud city. It was Jack's turn to make it that way again.

The suit felt oddly familiar as he looked down upon the city.

"You said you could trace my parents?" asked Jack, anxious for his loved ones.

"I just hacked into the Jokerz' records," said Nick through the earpiece in Jack's mask. "It'll be a minute. Feel free to test the suit."

Nervous, the directions Nick gave Jack were still a bit jumbled in his head.

"I can activate certain features by thinking, you said?" he asked.

Nick replied, "Yes. The suit's thrusters and glider wings are thought activated."

Jack took a deep breathe. "Might as well get this over with."

He dove from the rooftop.

Feeling like a bullet, the heads up display on the eyepieces warned him that he would need to enable glider wings to prevent death.

_Glider wings, _Jack thought. Nothing happened.

"Jack? You're still falling!" yelled Nick. "Don't just think the words, think what they do!"

Taking the tip, Jack imagined the glider wings spreading under his arms, catching the air before he splattered on the ground.

In response, red fabric extended between his torso and wrist, allowing him to glide upward into the sky.

He then imagined the thrusters in his boots to ignite, and he shot upward.

"Nice job, buddy!"

"_Where are my parents?_" asked Jack, flying above Gotham's skyline.

"Alright, I got it. The computer is compatible with your suit, so I'm sending the location now."

In front of his eyes, an orange icon popped up in front of the red-tinted view.

"It's an old warehouse. It looks like the Jokerz have some other people there, too. And just a tip: this might be a good time to try out the suit's stealth feature."

"Alright, bozos! Who's first?" laughed a scrawny Joker, looking at his tied up hostages with amusement. These people were at fault for angering his boss, Mister J, and he was assigned to dispose of them.

He had a pit in the middle of the warehouse, full of hungry sharks. Mister J always liked a theatrical approach to giving justice.

"Come on, someone has to be a hero! Who's it gonna be?" he shouted.

No one stepped forward.

"Fine. Then I get to choose," he said, putting a gloved hand over the eyeholes in his mask.

"Eenie meenie miney mo..."

He spread his fingers, to see that his other hand pointed toward an elderly woman.

"You there! The lady in purple! Step right up and receive your, eh... prize!"

Crying, the woman stayed put.

"Come on! We don't got all day!"

The man pulled a pistol from behind his back, and fired three rounds into the floor.

"I ain't playin'!" he yelled from behind his mask.

"No!" shouted the elderly man beside the woman. Roger Dominic was not going to let his wife die. "None of us deserve this!"

The Joker wiggled his finger. "Tut tut tut! You angered Mister J. That's punishable by law."

"What law?" yelled another hostage, a young man in his late teens. "We're being controlled by people like you! Murderers, thieves! This whole city is one big mess-up!"

"C'mere!" roared the Joker, stepping forward and grabbing the kid by his hair.

"LET GO OF ME!" yelled the kid, struggling against the ropes that binded his arms.

The criminal just laughed, taking hold of the neck of the boy's shirt.

"Enjoy your swim," he laughing devilishly, edging him closer to the sharks.

And then, he just stopped moving.

The kid looked at the other hostages, also confused.

Taking advantage of this change of events, the kid delivered a swift kick to the man's groin, and he collapsed without a peep.

"What happened to him?" asked the kid.

Suddenly, a dark figure materialized out of thin air behind where the Joker stood.

"What the...?" the kid gasped, slowly stepping back from the brooding figure with glowing red eyes.

"Call me Batman," said the man, through a faceplate.

Using some sort of knife to slice open the ropes around him, the figure said, "You showed some real courage. What's your name?"

"Steve Milton," he said, holding out his hand. Batman ignored it.

"How'd you do that?" asked the guy.

"Do what?" asked Batman, freeing the other hostages.

"The Joker. He just froze."

"Batdart."

Steve looked at the Joker, and saw a bat-shaped dart sticking out of his shirt.

"Cool."

"Can you arrange a pick-up to the Batcave? There's about ten people here," said Batman, his fingers touching his head below the odd spikes on his head, like ears.

Nick said, "The Batmobile can only carry four. Should I deploy the Batboat as well?"

"Yes," said Batman.

"Why can't we just go home?" asked Mrs. Dominic.

"Because you're all wanted fugitives now, Mom."

The old woman took a step back, with a hand over her hart.

"Jack!?"

Realizing there was no point in hiding his identity after this, Jack took off his mask, and said, "You've got just as much explaining to do as me."


	6. Mister J's Office

A Joker stood outside of a pair of wooden doors, sweat running down his face behind a clown mask.

In his hands, he held a video tape that would surely anger his boss. It contained what the Jokerz feared most: What might be the start of a rebellion.

Exhaling slowly, the Joker pushed open the doors, stepping into dark room.

Moonlight filtered in through the dusty windows on either side of the opposite wall, lighting the room eerily.

Through the shadows, the shape of a man was barely visible, sitting at his desk between the windows.

"Uhh... Boss?" asked the Joker, shaking.

"Yes?" replied the man, still concealed in the shadows.

"You... You're not going to like this..."

The Joker handed the tape over, and watched as his boss pushed the tape into the old television on the right side of his desk, amidst the papers and files that littered the space.

The Joker's boss motioned for him to stand behind him, to watch the video.

The nervous soldier stood behind his boss's chair, as the video started.

Out of nowhere, a dark figure appeared as one of the boss's soldiers collapsed.

The figure then freed a set of hostages, and put his hand to his ear as if making a call.

Then, after the people seemed to have been evacuated, he aimed his wrist at the camera that caught the footage, and the video ended as something slammed into the camera lens.

The boss exhaled heavily, letting loose a light, chuckling noise.

"Heh heh heh," he began.

"Somethin' funny?" asked the Joker, suddenly confused about his boss's reaction.

"Not just funny... Hahahaha!" shouted the man, putting his hands to his face and continuing to laugh harder.

"_This is golden!"_ he shouted, throwing his arms up.

Suddenly, he whirled around, cackling insanely as his face was revealed by the moonlight. The Joker soldier winced.

Standing in front of him, laughing his lungs out, was a man who wore no mask.

Instead, he smiled with a surgically altered mouth decorated in red, his white face creased with laughter. His green eyebrows raised.

"Boss? Why are you laughing?" asked the Joker, backing up slowly.

"Because, the Batman is back to play!" laughed Mister J, the leader of Gotham City.


	7. A Family Now

"So much for a secret identity," scolded Nick.

Jack shook his head. "There's no point in hiding from these people. They can't be put back out there! They'll be killed on sight!"

Nick rubbed his face with his hands, and said, "Look, Jack. This is all great, but you realize that we went from two people who could maybe pull this off to two people who now have to feed and shelter a pack of ten wanted criminals."

"Excuse me, but we did nothing wrong!"

From out of the crowd, a woman walked over, her red hair waving behind her.

"Why _hello_ to you, too!" said Nick, pushing Jack aside and holding out his hand.

"Nick Johnson, Batman number 2."

The woman ignored his hand, making a criticizing face. "It makes sense, you being _number 2_ and all."

Nick said, "Ooooohh did she just call me a..."

"Bag of feces? Yes," replied the woman, making Jack smile. "What's going on here?" she asked.

"We're _attempting_ to start some sort of rebellion," replied Jack.

"Attempting?" asked the woman.

"We're kinda new to this," admitted Nick, gesturing at Jack with the suit on aside from his helmet.

"First night out," said Jack, shrugging.

"You have got to be kidding me," grouched the girl, storming away.

"You see that? She was checking me out!" said Nick.

"Sure she was," laughed Jack. "But now we need to get serious."

Jack made his way through the confused crowd, toward his parents.

"Mom, Dad? I need you to explain something to me."

"Anything," replied his father.

"How am I... _ this_?" asked Jack, looking down at his suit with confusion.

His mother looked at him, with pity in her eyes. "Chance Whidmore. He is your real father."

"I know that," said Jack, to his parents' surprise. "But how did I end up with you two? Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Because, son," said his father, putting a hand on Jack's armored shoulder. "We were good friends of Chance Whidmore. One of the few who knew his... _ special_ secret. He brought you to us the night you were born, tears running down his cheeks. I had never seen him like that."

His father stared off, squinting behind his glasses, as if he could see it all happening again. "He cried, 'This is the only survivor. He must never know about me. The Jokerz must never know that he had anything to do with me. I don't have much time left, and you are the only people I trust enough with him. Keep him safe.'"

Jack's eyes burned. Chance loved him. He wasn't just a copy. He was seen as a human in the eyes of his father.

"You are something very special, Jack," his father said. "And I guess that it's fate that you realize it this way."

"I love you," said Jack, hugging his parents. "Thank you for keeping me safe all these years."

Meanwhile, Nick talked with Steve. "So, Jack tells me you're a brave little guy," said Nick, ruffling the teen's black hair.

"Stop it!" Steve yelled, flailing his arms.

"I'm not little," he growled as soon as Nick took his hand away. "I'm 17 years old."

"Hmm..." thought Nick, looking over at the Nightwing suit. "I think you'll fit in around here, easily."

He glanced over at the woman from earlier, chatting with a little red haired boy.

"Who is this?" asked Nick, looking at the little boy as he approached.

"My nephew," replied the woman.

"My sister... She was killed by those criminals. They framed her for stealing."

Nick's expression became serious, feeling sorry for the little boy, who looked around the cave in wonder.

"I... I'm sorry. For that, and how I acted earlier. That wasn't cool."

"It's fine... Nick?" she said, making sure she had the name right.

"I'm Gwen Richards."

Nick shook her hand and smiled.

The night went by, and it was late when the fugitives were able to sleep, using bedding that Jack scavenged from the mansion above.

"No one knows that Nick and I are behind this," anounced Jack. "You all need to stay here and be patient. We will be back tomorrow night, so until then, try not to cause trouble, and get to know one another. We're a family now."

The people mumbled their agreements and good-nights as Nick and Jack crept out of the underground entrance.

"Seriously, Jack. What have we done?" asked Nick in a regretful tone, the secret passage closing behind them.

"The right thing," replied Jack.


	8. Batgirl

When she was sure that everyone was asleep, Gwen Richards went to work.

The mechanics of the batsuit were simple from what she had seen. She had done work in the field of science and electronics, and operating the batsuit would be easy.

Stepping over the snoring men and women crowding the limited space of the cave, she crept towards the dimly illuminated displays that held the suits.

Taking note of a rather stylish female suit, she tip-toed over to the newest model that Jack had been wearing.

Quietly, she pulled it out of the case, and brought it with her to the elevator that the men had shown their new guests earlier.

She stepped into the elevator, and equipped the pieces of the suit as it rose.

Walking away from the elevator, Gwen was now invisible to the naked eye.

_Stealth systems are working, _she thought with a smile.

She then deployed the glider wings and rocketed into the night.

The sound of Jokerz snoring filled the dirty halls of an old prison facility. The space had been converted into a place of living for Mister J's men, and a particular Joker slept more soundly than any murderer should.

Only a few days ago, he had killed a woman, as ordered by Mister J. She stole extra rations from her meal at work, and the law was that she be put to death. But the interesting part was that she was accused wrongly. Mister J told him to frame her, in order to help lower the population that steadily rose each year.

As he dreamt of weapons and violence, he was unaware of another presence in his converted living space.

Walking through the no longer useful prison bars, left open, a figure glared at the Joker with hatred. He was a murderer. He was evil.

A shadow crept forward on the night floor, but if you had looked at it, you would notice that there was no visible body to accompany it.

The figure silently pulled a batarang from its belt, holding it like a knife.

Slowly, the figure lowered its hand, closing in on the figure's neck.

Gwen was about to cut the Joker's neck, when suddenly a voice called out behind her.

"HEY! What's this!?"

She whirled around, throwing the batarang at the Joker.

"AGH!" he called out, falling backward.

Gwen delivered a violent kick to the man's face, rendering him unconscious.

But behind her, the other Joker had woken up.

"Waz goin' on?" he mumbled sleepily, noticing the shadow on the floor.

Remembering the footage Mister J had shown them, the Joker panicked.

"IT'S HIM!" he shouted. "THE BATMAN!"

An alarm rung all around, as Jokerz bolted out of their cells.

Gwen cursed, running for her life.

She dove into the shadows, where no one could see her.

"Where'd he go?" asked a Joker, rubbing his unmasked eyes.

"He's cloaked," explained Gwen's target, the murderer of her sister.

"Fools!" called a voice from over the intercom system. It was Mister J himself.

"The shadows are a bat's best friend!"

He laughed wickedly.

Suddenly, the lights flashed on, revealing Gwen's shadow.

"THERE!" shouted a Joker, raising a baseball bat and charging forward.

Gwen was glad she took self defense classes when she was younger.

She lashed out, punching the warrior in the face.

She deactivated the cloak, taking a defensive stance.

The Jokerz attacked in a wave, and Gwen fought her hardest, left and right.

She was holding up pretty well on her own, until one of the Jokerz managed to get a gun to her head.

"That's right," he laughed. "The Batman ain't too tough when he's got a gun to his head."

They had no clue who was really under the suit.

"NO NO NO NO!" shouted Mister J.

The Jokerz made confused faces.

"The Batman cannot die like _this_!" the boss explained.

"We'll do it tomorrow, in front of the whole town. That'll teach the people. And don't touch the mask... We'll save that for tomorrow as well."

Gwen wasn't going to let that happen.

She turned around and smacked the gun out of the Joker's hand.

She kicked him aside, and fought off two other Jokerz.

Suddenly, a small device rolled forward.

It flashed, disabling the batsuit.

"No," whispered Gwen, as her vision was lost.

The Jokerz swept in, and a blow to the head made Gwen's world go black.


	9. The Game Has Changed

Jack's alarm went off. Time to go to work.

He stretched and hopped out of bed. He was about to get dressed in his work uniform, when he noticed that his message machine was labelled with one new message.

Jack pressed the play button, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop at the sound of Mister J's voice.

"Citizens of Gotham! This is your master speaking. I regret telling you that there will be no work today, but there is a good side to this. I have a special surprise for _all_ of you! Come to city hall at noon, and see for yourself!"

After a long pause, he continued, "This is a mandatory meeting. I don't care what excuse you have. If you don't show up, you will be rewarded with a death sentence. And we all know how fun those are."

The message ended, and Jack scowled. What was wrong with that freak?

Knowing Nick would have the same idea, Jack rode to the batcave.

Upon entrance, an uncomfortable murmuring greeted him as he stepped into the cave.

"What's going on?" he asked Nick, who sat at the bat computer with a frown on his face.

"Gwen's missing!" Nick yelled.

Jack couldn't believe it. How could this have happened?

In the distance, a small child wept.

"Rodney," said Nick, gesturing towards the child. "Gwen is his aunt and legal guardian."

Jack walked over to the small child, resting his hand on his little shoulder.

"It'll be alright. We'll find her," Jack reassured the boy.

Tears running down his face, he bawled, "S-she just left! In the middle of the night, she went over and looked at the toys, and then she got in the elevator!"

"Looked at the toys?" asked Jack, puzzled.

"S-she e-e-even took one!' cried Rodney, pointed at the display cases.

"Oh no," Jack gasped under his breath, seeing that his suit was missing.

Jack told Rodney to stay calm, and told him that Gwen would be back soon.

"Gwen's not the only thing missing," he said to Nick, pointing over to the empty display case.

"Oh hell no," said Nick, his face in his hands.

"Track it," said Jack. "Use the batcomputer."

Nick tried, but no signal came up.

"The suit's been disabled," he grumbled.

Jack was suddenly hit by a disturbing revelation.

"What if this has something to do with today's little 'surprise' at city hall?" he asked.

Nick's eyes widened.

"We're going to need to need to do something," Jack said.

"None of the suits are in the same league as the Jokerz!" said Nick with anger.

"That's a load of crap," said Jack. "The original Batman only had his mask and the tools in his belt, and he faced much worse than what we're looking at."

"But we aren't the original Batman," said Nick with doubt.

Jack shook his head. "Those aren't the only suits," he said, looking over at the display. "There were more. That's just the hall of fame."

Nick was doubtful. "You're suggesting that we sneak into the assembly in our suits, and save the girl, based on a guess that she's the reason there is an assembly?"

Jack thought for a moment. "Yeah," he replied.

Dark clouds cast darkness upon Gotham's City Hall.

People stood in a crowd facing the courthouse, where a large television screen was perched on the wall.

The citizens checked in on the street, and trudged into the building mob.

After the majority of citizens had arrived, the screen flicked on.

"Citizens of Gotham: I, your humble leader, am pleased to show you that no crime will go unpunished in our... proud city. Last night, a lone rebel tried to assassinate one of our reliable Joker guard staff. He must pay for his crimes, and you're all here to see it happen!" anounced Mister J, his disturbing face larger than life above his citizens.

People gasped and murmured when Gwen was shoved on stage, still in the batsuit.

Her hands were tied behind her as two guards escorted her to the middle of the stage below the television screen.

Mercilessly, one of the guards kneed her in the leg, causing her to drop down on both knees.

One Joker unrolled a scroll as the other pointed his gun to Gwens' head. She closed her eyes, praying for help.

The Joker with the scroll cleared his throat, and began to read.

"This criminal is charged with breaking and entering, attempted murder, and for dressing in offensive manner."

"But before we get to the action," said the other guard. "We unmask the bat."

The Joker put his scroll away and grabbed the top of Gwen's mask. He then pulled it off, causing a collective gasp below.

"The Batman is a _chick_?" exclaimed the Joker with the gun.

"What!? This is a real shocker!" laughed Mister J.

Tears ran down Gwen's face as the guard to her left took aim.

"Sorry, dollface. A guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta..."

Out of nowhere, a figure swooped in and tackled the guard.

"What the..." said the other guard, just before another figure strangled him from behind.

Gwen looked behind her, as a man in a silver batsuit sliced the bonds around her hands.

"It'll be alright," said Nick, his smile visible through his mask.

To her left, Jack kicked the other guard in the face.

The crowd below stared in awe.

Above, Mister J fumed.

"What? This was never how it was! Three Batmen? That's _cheating_!"

"Come on, let's go," said Jack, raising his bat-claw grappling hook.

Taking Gwen by the waist, they shot upward, onto the rooftops.

"Tryin' to steal my girl," mumbled Nick, launching upward thanks to his boot jets.

"Remain calm, citizens," said Mister J, as the crowds burst into panic.

To make sure no one could follow, the three Batmen glided onto the street, entering the cloaked Batmobile.

"You know how to drive this thing?" asked Nick, only knowing how to set autopilot locations.

"I've done it before, technically," said Jack, looking at the controls.

"Wait, what?" asked Gwen.

"Nevermind," said Jack, as the Batmobile launched forward.


	10. Where Things Get Complicated

"Well this is just great," frowned Nick, jotting down notes on a piece of paper.

Jack, Gwen, and Nick had brought the latest batsuit into a room branching off of the bat cave. Nick shook his head.

"The thing's useless," he said. "The Jokerz completely fried it."

"I am so sorry," said Gwen, with a sniffle.

Jack looked at her with a frown.

"Sorry isn't going to cut it. That thing was our best shot against the Jokerz."

"Not it wasn't," argued Gwen.

"What?" asked Nick.

"You did fine when you rescued me," she said.

The two men thought about this, unable to make a valid argument.

"Why did you take the suit anyways?" asked Nick in an exasperated tone.

Gwen said nothing.

"They said you attempted murder," said Jack.

Nick stared at Gwen.

"You tried to kill him, didn't you? The Joker that killed your sister," he said.

"It's none of your business," said Gwen, as her eyes grew watery.

She ran out of the room, leaving Nick and Jack alone with the ruined batsuit.

"There's _nothing_ we can do?" asked Jack.

"No," answered Nick. "Whatever they used, the Jokerz made this thing worthless. I have no clue how to patch it up."

"Does the batcomputer have any info on it?" asked Jack.

Nick thought for a moment.

"I tried, but I can't understand what it's asking. I might as well be reading another language."

Jack shook his head, and left Nick to go see their guests.

Nick followed, looking at the people.

"They need food," said Nick. "We need to get more rations."

Jack looked at his friend questionally.

"How are we supposed to do that? We're only allowed the food we earn."

"That's what _we_ can do," said Nick, gesturing between the two.

"But no one said how much _they_ get," he said, looking over at the suits.

"Alright," said Jack. "Let's head to the inventory and see what we can use."

A few days earlier, Nick and Jack had found a lower level by using the elevator. This room below the main batcave contained an armory of Batman's most famous tools and weapons. They returned, excited to see what they could use this time.

Suits were on display in much greater number than before. Lining the large basement in rows, compatible tech sat on circular desks surrounding each suit.

"If we're going to steal," said Jack, scratching his chin.

"We're going to need something that's quick and stealthy," Nick finished for him.

Jack and Nick split up, inspecting each suit and observing the equipment that went with it.

"Found one," said Nick. He pressed the red button on the desk and the case slid downward with a hiss, allowing him to grab the batsuit and put it on.

"Let's see here," mumbled Jack, carefully eyeing each suit's pros and cons.

He arrived at an early model, a straight black suit with no cape. It had a red bat insignia on the chest.

"This will do," he said after reading the suit had a soundless effect as well as temporary cloaking.

The men put on their suits, grabbing weapons and tech from the tables and attaching it to their gauntlets and belts.

As the two reached the upper floor, Steve ran up to them.

"I want to go with you," he said.

"No way, kid. You don't have any training," said Nick through the mouth hole in his mask.

"Do _you_?" asked Steve.

Jack smiled beneath his mask as he looked over at Nick. The kid had a point.

"Next time," Jack said, patting Steve's shoulder.

Jack sat in the driver's seat of the Batmobile. Nick took shotgun.

"Let's get this over with," said Jack under his breath, initiating the Batmobile's take off sequence.

The floor below the Batmobile rotated, sinking lower into the armory.

When it stopped, the Batmobile was aimed towards a tunnel across a wide lane in the middle of the room.

Jack pushed the throttle, and flames shot from behind the Batmobile as it sped forward.

The doors to Neat Eats Grocery Store opened, but no one was there to cause it.

The lazy cashier looked up, his eyes squinting under his crying clown mask.

Shrugging, he looked back down at his outdated newspaper. The headline was "Jokerz Assume Control of Gotham."

No one was there aside from the cashier. But if there had been, they would have thought they had seen ghosts.

Boxes appeared to float off of shelves and into nothingness.

A box of crackers floated, until a man in black suddenly appeared, his hand holding the box.

Jack cursed. The suit needed to charge its stealth ability.

Quietly, he crept into the next aisle.

He grabbed a few food accessories, handing them off to an invisible force beside him, making them disappear.

"The pockets in the cape are runnin' out of room," said the voice of Nick, a whisper that seemed to come from nowhere.

The Joker at the counter scratched his head, and got up. Did he hear something?

"SHH!" whispered Jack, initiating the cloak as the Joker stepped into view.

The soldier chewed his lip as he pulled his assault rifle from his back.

"Hello?" he asked, aiming down the sights, sweeping the aisle.

"Go go go," whispered Jack, putting a hand on his friend's invisible shoulder.

Together, they slowly backed away, turning into the next aisle.

The Joker stood for a moment, and then began to walk to the end of the aisle, into the same one Jack and Nick were in.

Jack looked in the corner of his vision, at the suit's heads up display.

The cloak's battery read 50%. He would no longer be hidden if they kept moving away at this pace.

"Go," he whispered, and they backed into the aisle they came from.

Moving on to the next aisle in the opposite direction of the Joker, Jack uncloaked. He grabbed more supplies as his cloak charged.

"Pockets are full," whispered Nick.

"Let's go," said Jack, cloaking again.

They walked to the door, and the doors opened once again.

"What is going on!?" yelled the Joker, running up to the doors.

He tripped, and flew out of the doorway, into something solid.

"Oy!" he yelled, as Nick fell in front of him, disabling the cloak.

"_YOU_!" yelled the Joker, aiming his gun. "Mister J's going to be very pleased!"

Suddenly, the Joker was swept off his feet, hitting the ground.

"You saw nothing," said Jack, standing over the man. He threw down a smoke bomb, grabbed Nick, and ran.

Together, the Batmen reached the Batmobile, cloaked and sitting in the grass off a park nearby.

"That was close," said Nick.

"Too close," answered Jack, taking the Batmobile home.

Meanwhile, all was not well in the Batcave.

Gwen's head pounded. Her nose was runny, and she felt sick. What seemed as a slight cold in the morning had escalated to a full illness.

She coughed as the Batmobile arrived, spiraling up to the main level of the Batcave.

Jack and Nick stepped out.

Jack yelled, "We have food. Come eat!"

The people ran forward, leaving Gwen shivering in her living space.

She then passed out.

When she opened her eyes, she found Nick and Jack, out of their suits, looking at her worriedly.

"You look sick," said Jack.

"I am," she wheezed, catching a cough in her fist.

Nick walked away, and when he came back, he held a syringe.

"You look like you're in really bad shape," he said.

Jack asked, "What are you doing?"

Nick said, "Well, none of us here are doctors. I'm going to take a blood sample and register it on the Batcomputer."

"I'm sure it's just the flu," Gwen reassured them.

"I don't think so," said Nick, eyeing Gwen's face.

Her skin was paling, and her lips were turning a bright shade of red.

"Heh heh," she coughed.

"What's so funny?" asked Jack.

Gwen groaned, rolling over and falling asleep.

"This is beyond weird," said Nick.

The people in the Batcave were sleeping far away in the other end, on an empty platform.

"What is it?" asked Jack.

Nick said, in a saddened tone, "She's been infected by an advanced version of the original Joker's toxin."

"Meaning?" asked Jack, looking at the statistics on the computer screens.

"She's going to die unless we get her help," said Nick, bringing up disturbing images of people with white faces and massive smiles.

"Is that what happened to these people?" asked Jack, horrified by the people's unnatural smiles.

"Yes," said Nick. "And it'll happen to Gwen, too."

"How do we prevent it?" asked Jack, looking back at Gwen as she coughed in her sleep.

"We'll need the scientist who designed it," said Nick, typing something that initiated a hack on the Jokerz' files.

Suddenly, an image popped up on the screen. One that made this all more confusing.

On the screen, Jack stared at his own face, as it grimly glared back at him.


	11. Two of a Kind

Jack's eyes flicked open, and he found himself on the floor of the Batcave, with Nick standing over him.

"What happened?" croaked Jack, sitting up and rubbing his face.

"You passed out," said Nick.

Warily, Jack looked back up at the Batcomputer, to see his face.

"You're telling me that Chance Whidmore developed Joker's special toxin?" asked Jack.

"No," said Nick. "Doctor Ron Shaw is the man we need."

"But he looks _just_ like me."

"Probably because he's your brother," said Nick.

Jack shook his head.

"I was the only surviving clone," said Jack. "The Jokerz killed the others."

Nick said, "No, that's what Chance assumed had happened. But as you see here, obviously there are more out there like you."

Jack stood up, and asked, "But why would someone with all of Chance's memories create a toxin for Joker?"

"Think about it," said Nick. "You don't necessarily have _all_ of Batman's memories, do you?"

"Fragments," said Jack.

"Exactly. I think that, since there were so many of you, each clone got bits and pieces of Chance's knowledge. You obviously inherited his ways of fighting and field knowledge, but you don't really remember his life. Maybe this guy can do the same as you. But what if he inherited Batman's scientific knowledge, unlike you. If we can get this guy to join us, it'll be like have a smarter _you_!"

Jack shook his head. "This is too much. Let's just find this guy, explain what's going on, and save Gwen."

"Sounds like a plan," said Nick.

It was late at night. Ron Shaw sat at his desk, working extra hours. Against his will, he was developing an even more advanced Joker toxin.

Mister J told him that his last experiment had been used on a subject. The subject was the girl, Gwen Richards, who was planned to be executed.

But as she escaped, Mister J didn't let her go easy. One of his snipers fired the toxin via dart, and it had hit its target.

Guilt overwhelmed Ron as he poured green liquid into a vat of a glowing green substance.

He stepped back as green gas poured outward.

He wiped the fog away from the eyepieces in his mask, to see a dark figure standing in front of him. He wasn't even surprised.

The figure began to make an offensive move, but Ron saw it coming.

The figure underestimated him, and Ron easily avoided Batman's attacks.

"Child's play," he laughed from under his gas mask, elbowing another Batman approaching from behind. He was a step ahead with every move they tried to make.

The Batmen stopped their attack, removing their masks when they were away from Ron's lab.

"Okay, you're good," said Nick.

Ron stared at the other Batman, who shared his looks.

"I see what's going on here," said Ron, removing his mask.

"You guys are bringing Chance's plan into play."


	12. Under Attack

"How did you know about..." began Nick, in a confused tone.

"I _am_ Chance Whidmore, technically," said Ron, holding out his arms. "Everything he was, I am. And more."

"How is that possible?" asked Jack.

"Like I said," said Nick. "He must've gotten more than you. And by the sound of it... A _lot_ more."

"If you're him, then why are you working for the Jokerz?" questioned Jack.

Ron laughed. "Brother, you think I _volunteered _for this? In school, the Jokerz realized I had potential. And so, ever since I graduated, they've had me working my butt off. If I could, I'd return to the Batcave. But usually, they have me under heavy observation."

Nick looked up at the security cameras.

"No worries. They only provide video. Not audio."

"But they'll know that we..."

Ron waved away Jack's worried reply. "The Jokerz never check the security cams."

"Well we have a friend who needs your help," said Nick.

"The girl," said Ron with guilt.

"Yes. Her name is Gwen Richards. We need you to come with us and..."

Outside, spotlights flashed onto the building as the thud of helicopters became audible.

Yellow light flooded Ron's lab.

"BATMEN! WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!" called a Joker over a megaphone.

"How did they find us?" asked Jack, pulling his mask back on. "You said they never check..."

Ron ran put his gas mask back on and ran to a freezing cabinet in the wall, pulling out tubes and loading them into a belt.

"Looks like they got smarter. We'll hit them with my new toxin," said Ron, putting on the belt and loading a dart gun.

"We don't kill," said Jack, reminding Ron of their heritage.

"This is a changed world," said Ron. "We have to do what we can."

Jack shook his head, but led the way out of the lab.

"My antidote for the toxin is in the lower levels, in one of the other labs," said Ron.

"Let's get there, quick!" yelled Nick.

They left Ron's office, and ran down the hallway.

Windows lined the walls to their left. Yellow light filtered through, onto the trio.

A bullet flew through one of the windows.

"GET DOWN!" yelled Ron, crouching below the windows and proceeding to move forward.

Nick and Jack followed, turning into another hall.

At the end of the hall was a stairway, and the three could hear a Joker moving up the steps.

"I got it," said Nick, preparing a bat-dart.

But when the Joker, holding a pistol, turned the corner, a toxin dart hit his neck.

He pulled it out, eyeing it curiously, and began to chuckle maniacally.

He then collapsed to the floor.

"He's down," said Ron, moving forward.

"Gwen," whispered Nick, thinking of the same thing happening to her.

"Don't worry. My new toxin works _much_ faster than the other," Ron said.

They reached the stairs, and ran down.

Ron shot another Joker as Jack and Nick tossed batarangs at his allies.

They stepped over their foes, reaching the end of the stairs.

They entered the next floor, looking down another hall, and saw an elevator midway.

"GO! GO! GO!" whispered Ron.

They rushed forward.

But then, the doors slid open, revealing a room full of Jokerz.

Together, the Batmen fought off the Jokerz.

One Joker tried to shoot Jack, but Nick kicked the gun out of his hand as Ron slammed his face into the side of the elevator.

After they were done, they tossed the men out.

"Floor Number 2," said Ron.

Nick pressed the button.

They slowly began to descend, when the elevator shut down.

The lights went out, and the emergency lighting kicked in, casting the three in a dark flood of crimson light.

"What's happening?" asked Jack.

"Those idiots cut off the power to the building," said Ron, rubbing his temples.

Jack pulled a special batarang from his belt and stabbed it into the floor of the elevator.

With effort, he cut through, creating a circle in the flooring.

He kicked the circle, and the chunk of the floor fell down the elevator shaft.

"Let's go," said Nick, crawling out of the hole and gripping the side of the elevator shaft.

Ron and Jack followed, as Nick shimmied over to an emergency ladder.

"We're close," said Ron, seeing the door to the second floor.

Using a batarang, Jack pried the door open, and the three leapt through.

They hit the ground.

"We made it!" yelled Nick.

But his enthusiasm went out like a light when he looked up, to see that they were surrounded by Jokerz. Assault rifles pointed at their heads.

"Send as much as you can to the batcomputer," growled Jack.

"Why?" asked Nick.

"Just do it!" said Jack, before the Jokerz began to beat on them.


	13. Steve Milton

Steve Milton lived a rough life. As a kid, his parents made a very low salary. He could only afford the cheapest clothing, which was really bad in a junk town like Gotham.

His father was abusive, lashing out on nights when work was stressful.

His mother only wanted the best for her baby.

When Steve was injured in a science lab fire at his middle school, his mother paid all she had for the surgery to fix his skin. Sadly, from those days on, he looked like a new man.

Not that he looked bad. Personally, Steve preffered the new look. He saw it as an... improvement.

One day, the Jokerz were outside Steve's house, on their patrol, and they heard his father's abuse taking place.

They barged in, arresting the man on sight. He was never seen again.

By the time he was 17, Steve had become more mature than others his age. His mother was sad when he left, but his check-ins reassured her that her boy was living a happy life.

That's what she thought, anyway.

On his own, Steve found work under the Jokerz tiresome and awful.

Always feeling rebellious, he decided that maybe it would be better to be on the "right" side of the law. He soon realized that there was nothing right about the Jokerz at all.

He tried to work with them, to serve and protect, but the only protecting they really did was of themselves.

Annoyed, he quit the "police" force, only to be demoted to being a sanitation worker.

One day he was sick and unable to do his job, and so the Jokerz signed him up for execution as part of Mister J's "Crowd Control Plan." Also known as his excuse for lowering Gotham's amount of people to make room for the next generations.

But then, Batman had saved him.

After moving into the Batcave, Steve was filled with wonder.

Before his time, someone was brave enough to stand up for what was right.

It angered him that Jack and Nick denied his requests to join them, even when they said he could go with them "next time."

But at least he could spend some time with Rodney and Megan.

Rodney and Megan were twins, only a year or two younger than Steve.

They were framed for theft, and were with Steve as Batman saved them.

Steve was in the middle of talking to them when the Batcomputer began to buzz.

"What's going on?" asked Megan.

"I don't know," said Steve, standing up and approaching the computer.

One of the monitors had an alert.

Steve pressed the screen, and the alert turned into a document.

He read, fascinated.

"Oh no," said Steve when he finished reading.

He looked over at the nice lady, Gwen, and saw her wrapped up in a blanket. Her face was pale as she coughed, her nephew holding her in his arms.

"I need to go... Now," said Steve.

He ran to the Nightwing suit display, sliding it open and suiting up.

"What are you doing!?" exclaimed Rodney.

"Filling in," replied Steve, as he bolted towards the elevator.


	14. No More Mr Bat Guy

Jack's head throbbed as he found himself in a dimly lit room.

He tried to stand up, but realized that his arms and legs had been tied.

He struggled against the ropes.

Laughter eminated from the shadows.

"There's no point in doing that, Bats!" chuckled the voice.

"Who's there?" asked Jack.

"Who do you think, silly?" teased the voice, as a character stepped into the small area of light.

"Mister J," growled Jack.

Mister J giggled insanely, his purple suit dirty as his yellow teeth.

"You're just like _him_! Every bat has their own way, but there's always just a _touch_ of the original in there somewhere! HA HA HA!"

Jack tried to break free.

"Struggling isn't going to help at all, Bats. But don't worry. It'll all be over soon!"

"What do you mean?" asked Jack.

From the shadows, Mister J pulled a chair, and sat down across from the Batman.

"You see, like the Batman, the Joker must have his successors as well," he began.

"No, I just thought you were that old," growled Jack.

Mister J backhanded Jack.

"I'm TALKING!" he shouted.

"Any-who, where was I? Ah, yes. The whole 'successor' thing."

He ran his hand through his green hair. Although I'm not the old Joker, I'm getting too old for this. Too old to worry about running the GRAND, SHINING KINGDOM OF GOTHAM!"

Jack shook his head with a frown.

"Don't lie to me, Bats," said Mister J.

"You love this town just as much as I do. And that's why you are the one to take my place! You'll be the _next_ Mister J!" laughed the Jokerz leader.

"Never," scowled Batman.

"Well, it's not really a choice," grumbled Mister J, pulling a computer chip from his pocket.

"What do you mean? What is that?"

Mister J laughed as he pulled the mask from Jack's face.

"Right here," said Mister J, feeling a spot on Jack's head.

"We did a little... surgery. You've got a little reader attaching to your brain! As soon as I plug this little chip in, you'll be a younger version of me! This'll get that bat nonsense out of your head and make you a real model leader!"

"What!? How?" demanded Jack.

"Through the generations, to keep up with the times, the Mister J's before me got a pretty clever idea. The last Bat tried to clone himself, which ended up in a flop. But the Jokerz were even more creative! Why try to raise a new Mister J, when we can just instantly reprogram one from the last boss!?" laughed Mister J.

"Please... DON'T DO THIS!" yelled Jack.

Mister J laughed, slowly lowering the chip towards Jack's head.

"Trust me... As soon as it connects, you'll be laughing your head off!"

"NOOOOO!" yelled Jack.


	15. Better than Ever

Steve's heart pounded as the world around him passed by in a blur. Nightwing's old motorcycle suited him well.

His mask's HUD (heads up display) notified that his destination, one of Gotham's best science labs, was only a few blocks away.

He parked close by, and cloaked the bike. No sense in giving himself away.

As he crept through the shadows, towards the gates of the lab entrance, a feeling of deja vu overwhelmed him. This felt so natural, as if he had been born to do it.

Stealthily, he used two electric batons to take out the Jokerz at the gates, and proceeded towards the building.

Steve easily reached the second floor. There were barely any guards in the perimeter, probably because the "Batmen" were in Jokerz captivity. But they'd never see Nightwing coming.

Entering a futuristic glass room, Nightwing faced a white desk full of vials and test tubes.

His HUD was going crazy, blue lines pointing to each vial, disappearing as each vial was checked as unusable for a cure.

Sweat rolled down Steve's forehead as the options began to narrow down. Any second now, Gwen could be dead. He had to hurry.

And then, with a ping, a vial containing blue liquid was highlighted in green by the HUD.

"Gotcha," said Steve, picking up the vial and storing it in his belt.

Driving in to the secret armory entrance, cleverly hidden beneath foliage outside of Wayne Manner, Steve thought he had made it just on time.

He ran up to the main level of the Batcave, to have his hopes dampened by the sound of wicked laughter.

The people in the cave stared in shock as Gwen cackled, rocking back and forth, her face pale and her eyes red.

Rodney sprinted over to Steve.

"Dude, she just started cracking up out of nowhere! Do you know what to do?"

Steve said, "I hope so."

He ran over to Gwen. Her nephew, the other Rodney, crouched next to her, crying.

"What's wrong with auntie Gwen!?" he cried.

"Don't worry, I've got it under control. She'll be fine!" said Steve.

Steve put his hands on Gwen's shoulders as she rocked back and forth. Her eyes stared off into the distance.

"Gwen. GWEN. GWEN! LISTEN TO ME!" he yelled.

Gwen focused on him, a confused expression on her face.

"Drink this," he said, holding the vial in his hand.

The skin around her lips was turning red.

She went back to laughing.

Steve took the vial and put it into Gwen's mouth as she laughed.

She stopped laughing, confused again as she swallowed the cure.

Coughing, she fell forward, supporting herself with her arms.

"What's happening to her?" asked Rodney, tears running down his face.

Blue drops fell from her mouth.

"She's rejecting the cure," said Steve in amazement.

More drips fell, but the rest of the cure seemed to have been consumed.

For a moment, Gwen stopped. She sat still, making no noise. The batcave was silent.

And then, she looked up.

What Steve saw shocked him.

Gwen was no longer pale. Her skin was back to normal, and so were her eyes. But her lips remained a wicked shade of red, the color stretching up to her cheeks after the corners of her mouth.

She let out a small giggle, and asked, "What's everybody starin' at? Ain't ever seen a girl get sick?"

"Gwen... Are you okay?" asked Steve.

"Better than ever! Ha ha ha!" she called out.

She stood up, and patted her nephew's head.

Her eyes, wide and crazy, looked over everyone.

"You should see yourselves! You all look like you've seen a ghost! Ha ha ha!"

Picking up Rodney, she strutted away, off to look at the Bat armory.

"What happened?" asked Megan.

"I have no idea," said Steve.

"But we need Jack and Nick back."


	16. The Choice

Jack looked at his face in the mirror, his head spinning. This was horrible, but at the same time, he felt... _enlightened._

He understood the Jokerz' point of view now. Every merciless murder, horrible heist, and foolish failure made sense to him. The Jokerz weren't mindless killers. They truly were Gotham's _only_ sense of order.

Why give the people freedom? Then, they could have a say in how they were controlled. Why would the Jokerz give them any more than basic necessities? They didn't matter.

What mattered in this world was being on top. No matter what you had to do...

_NO!_ Jack screamed in his mind. None of this was right. Whatever Mister J had put into his head, it was spreading the Jokerz' ideals through his mind like a disease.

He felt his morals fall away to be replaced by the twisted logic of the criminals who ran Gotham. He was no better than them now.

_But how could I be? I am one now! There's no getting better than this! I was an idiot before! Now I see..._

_STOP IT! I am here for a reason. To take the Jokerz down. Chance Whidmore..._

_Was an idiot. He should've given in before we had to kill him..._

_I am not a Joker._

_I am._

_I am Batman._

_There is no Batman. He died years ago. I'm nothing but a pathetic copy._

_That's... That's not true._

Chance's head throbbed. What was happening?

He couldn't tell whether the thoughts were his own, or if they were Mister J's.

_There's nothing to question. I AM, Mister J now! There's no going back!_

_Yes there is. I have to get home. I have to..._

_That's a fantastic idea._

_What?_

_Home. I should go home._

_Why should I go home?_

_To destroy the Batcave. Finally rid Gotham of the bat._

_No._

_Sounds good to me._

_That's because... Why does that sound good to me!?_

Jack lashed out, punching the decorative mirror that sat in front of him.

In horror, he looked into the cracked mirror, to see his face was decorated in white make up. His lips were painted red, the design making it look like he was smiling constantly. His black hair was the only real remnant of who he was.

_This is not me._

_It is. I look great._

_The batsuit... I need to find it._

_We need to kill the bat._

_There are too many of us. If I can't finish this, the others will._

_Oh, I'm going to finish this alright._

As if his body was working on its own, Jack stood up, and left the old dressing room he was sitting in.

He opened the door with a creak.

_What am I doing?_

He casually walked down a hallway, to a large pair of wooden doors.

He knocked out a cartoonish pattern, and a voice called, "Come in."

Jack opened the doors, and sat down in the chair across from Mister J at his desk.

"I have an..." he stopped.

_No._

_YES._

"I... I have..."

"Spit it out, boy!" laughed Mister J.

"I have an... I have an idea! Yes. No. I shouldn't. It's pretty great. No, it's bad. My... My idea..."

"Resisting the change, ol' Jack?" asked Mister J with a chuckle.

"There's no point. Eventually, you will be one of us. One of _me_! Everyone who resists just suffers until Mister J wins. Like he always does."

"As for my idea... I think we should attack the... The... NO! We need to KILL THEM ALL!"

Mister J leaned forward on his desk, intrigued.

"Kill who?"

"We must kill the Bat... The Bat... The BATS. ALL OF THEM. NO! YES! WE CAN'T!"

Jack was breathing heavily, sweat running down his face.

Mister J put up his hands.

Mister J said, "Calm down, old boy. Take your time."

"The Batcave. I know where it is," said Jack.

Mister J laughed, "_That's_ more like it!"

Jack growled.

_How could I do this? Betray my friends. They'll never forgive me._

_No need to worry. They'll all be dead anyway._

"There are... fugitives. They live there. We could take... take them... TAKE THEM ALL OUT. We could end the... We could end the..."

"The...?" asked Mister J, an eyebrow raised.

"WE COULD END THE BATMAN!" shouted Jack.

Nick and Ron sat, tied to chairs beside each other.

"How are we going to get out of this one?" asked Nick.

"I don't know," said Ron.

"But you're like... The best clone. The top dog," said Ron.

"Maybe. Honestly, Jack's the only one of the squad I've met. For all we know, they all could've survived."

"That'd be pretty cool," said Nick.

Ron struggled against the ropes that binded him.

Nick looked around him. They were in a basement.

Torture tools sat on a cart to his left, glinting under the dim lights that hung above them.

Rats skittered in and out of the shadows on the blood stained floor.

Suddenly, the door to the basement swung open, as Jack and Mister J made their way down the steps.

"Jack! What's going on?" shouted Nick.

Ron was shocked to see Jack's face, painted like a Joker.

Jack pulled a pistol out, and then a coin.

Mister J chuckled, "They grow up so fast."

Jack coughed, his hand shaking.

_Drop the gun._

_No. I have to play the game._

_This isn't an optional thing. I can't do this._

_I don't see why not. They're tied up, and I'm here with a gun._

_NO._

Mister J said, "Boys, we're going to play a little game. You see, a friend of mine from _way _back gave me one of his favorite possessions. A coin. One side is scarred, the other is clean. And he'd flip the coin. One side meant one fate, the other meant the opposite choice. So here's what we're going to do. Jack?"

Jack struggled to get the words out.

"We... are... going... to flip the coin. Clean side means I shoot both... of my friends... here. Scarred side... means... We will enlighten them."

"Enlighten?" asked Ron.

"Jack here's had a little... surgery, if you will," explained Mister J. He continued to explain what had been done to Jack, and why.

"So basically, if you get to live, you'll get a little gift yourself!"

His hand shaking, Jack tried to flip the coin. He dropped it without a flip.

"That's not how you do it!" shouted Mister J.

Jack bent down and picked up the coin.

_No. I can't do this. If anything, use the gun against Mister J._

_Why would I shoot my best friend?_

_If anything, he's my worst enemy._

_That's false. My enemies are tied up in front of me. _

_NO!_

But it was too late. Jack flipped the coin. And it landed on the clean side.

"Sorry, boys. Tough luck," said Mister J.

He laughed, "The whole Bat thing was a real workout. A great try. But in this town, you have to know who's boss."

Jack raised the gun, his hand shaking.

_No._

_Yes._

_NO._

_YES._

_Why would I do this? Ron is my BROTHER._

_Nick isn't my brother._

_He's my friend. He's like a brother._

_If I want to be Mister J, I have to do this._

_If I want to be Batman, I can't do this._

Suddenly, Jack zoned out.

He saw an image. A beacon of hope. A sign.

The Bat. A terrifying creature. But at the same time, noble.

"I DON'T KILL!" a furious voice shouted. "HOW DARE YOU DISHONOR MY LEGACY."

The Batman. It was him. Not Chance Whidmore. Not the man before him, or even before that. It was _him_. The original. The true Batman.

_I DON'T KILL._

_i do kill..._

_I DON'T KILL._

_but..._

_I_

_DON'T _

_KILL!_

Jack was mumbling silently.

"Um, Jack? Could we get on with this?" asked Mister J.

Jack whispered something.

"What was that?" asked Mister J, leaning closer.

"I don't kill," stated Jack.

Mister J frowned. Ron and Nick looked at each other, their expressions confused.

"I DON'T KILL!" shouted Jack, whacking Mister J's head with the butt of the gun.

Mister J fell backward.

"Of all the ungrateful..." began Mister J, pulling out a knife.

Jack threw aside the gun, and put his hand to the back of his head.

With effort, he pulled out a small chip, and smashed it in his hand.

"We end this. Now," said Jack.

"What a pity. To think you'd actually make a good leader," said Mister J.

"I'll never be like you," countered Jack, advancing to make his first move.


	17. Rise of the Batmen

"Gwen, what are you doing?" asked Steve, standing in the doorway of the bathroom in the Batcave.

Gwen was standing there, admiring her new look in the mirror, giggling.

"I look fabulous," she commented, puckering her lips.

"Yeah... you look... great," Steve said in a forced tone.

Rodney, Gwen's nephew, stood behind her, his face confused. Gwen wasn't acting the same, and he didn't like it.

"How'd I get to be this _gorgeous_?" asked Gwen.

"I'm not really sure," said Steve. "That antidote was supposed to save you from the Joker toxin, but for some reason you kept some of the toxin's effects."

"Huh," muttered Gwen, picking up her nephew. "Thanks for saving me," she said, leaving the room and kissing Steve's cheek.

Steve looked at himself in the mirror, still dressed in the Nightwing armor.

He smiled.

Something felt off, however. As if this wasn't meant to happen, like he missed a step.

He squinted, looking over the suit carefully. But, he couldn't find anything wrong.

He shrugged, and went back out into the cave, over to Rodney and Megan.

The two were in the middle of one of their arguments.

"They're dead!" said Rodney.

"They've been sidetracked!" shouted Megan back.

"What are you two bickering about now?" asked Steve.

"She thinks Nick and Jack are still alive by this point," said Rodney, rolling his eyes.

"They _are_ the Batmen," said Steve. "They'd be pretty hard to kill."

Megan patted Steve on the back.

"He's a smarty," she said with a smile.

"Wherever they are, I hope they get back soon," said Steve.

He looked over at Gwen, as she chatted with Cathy and Greg, a young married couple.

"AGH!" shouted Jack, as Mister J's knife sliced across his chest.

He had just barely avoided the swipe, the blade just grazing his skin.

"Come on, bats! You've got to be tougher than _that_!" laughed Mister J, lunging with the knife.

Jack caught his arm and brought his elbow around, smacking it into Mister J.

"OWWIE!" shouted Mister J, holding his face in his hands.

Jack kicked the blade out of the villain's hand, and caught it in midair.

He sliced Ron and Nick free, and they stood around Mister J.

"Three to one, buddy," said Nick, holding his fists up. "Your chances ain't lookin' too good!"

Mister J laughed.

"You spoke to soon."

He pulled a remote from his pocket, and jabbed a flashing red button.

Behind them, a large metal door lifted.

Two Jokerz stepped into the light, wearing the batsuits.

Jack grunted in distaste, seeing that the men had sloppily painted the suits purple and green.

"Have fun!" laughed Mister J, running back up the way he came.

"Jack! Follow him! We can take these posers!" said Ron, but Jack didn't listen.

"No, you'll need all the help you can get!" said Jack, as the Bat Jokerz advanced.

Steve heard the Batcomputer beep, and he walked over to investigate.

"Hey!" he shouted. "The batsuits are back online!"

The people of the Batcave rushed over, to see two orange dots blinking on a map of the city.

"They're at Mister J's tower!" exclaimed Greg.

Carl Johnson, another of the fugitives, said, "I remember seeing Nick activate some kind of video feed..."

Steve typed in a command on the batcomputer, and the view changed from a map to the first person view of one of the suits.

"This doesn't look right," muttered Megan.

The screen showed fists flying out to connect with Jack.

Jack threw a good hit, and the person wearing the suit moved left, to see Nick fighting another batsuit wearer, alongside... Jack's twin?

"Who's that guy!?" asked Gwen. "How can there be two Jacks?"

"He wasn't the only one," Mrs. Dominic exclaimed to herself, under her breath.

"Alright, people. They need help. I'm going to go and try to get them back here," said Steve, walking to the armory.

"Hold up!" yelled Carl. "You can't go in there alone! That's the Jokerz's base of operations!"

Steve said, "Well what else are we going to do?"

"Work together!" said Rodney, throwing his little fist into the air.

"Yeah, that kid's got a good idea!" said Greg.

Gwen laughed, "I'm in!"

"But... Are we all capable of fighting off Jokerz?" asked Steve. "Who will stay with Rodney?"

Mr. and Mrs. Dominic stepped forward.

"We're too old to fight! We can watch the boy," said Mr. Dominic.

"Alright. Who all wants to come along?" asked Steve.

The twins, Gwen, Greg, and Carl stepped forward.

Cathy looked at Greg.

"No. It's too dangerous."

Greg kissed his wife on the cheek, and said, "Honey, the Jokerz have given us crap for long enough. It's time to make them pay."

Cathy nodded her head sadly.

"But you come back to me!" she shouted, throwing her arms around him.

Steve looked at Rodney and Megan.

"You sure you guys are up for this?" he asked.

Rodney cracked his knuckles.

"Better than sitting around here."

Steve nodded.

"Batmen, suit up!" he ordered.

"The Batmobile's gone. How the heck are we supposed to get there?" asked Greg, attaching blades to the gauntlet on his arm.

Steve thought about it.

He looked over at an unlit section of the armory, and flicked a switch on the wall.

Lights flashed on, to reveal a powerful tool for the upcoming fight.

Carl whistled.

Steve said, "Don't worry Greg. We've got something that'll do the trick."


	18. Flight of the Batmen

After some effort, the three Batmen managed to overpower the Jokerz.

Nick and Jack put their suits back on, and Nick frowned.

"I liked it better before," he said, looking at the sloppy paint job the Jokerz had given the suit.

"Doesn't matter what they made it look like. My suit's operating normally," said Jack.

Ron said, "I'm itching to get in one of those things... Is the armory still intact at the batcave?"

"YOU KNOW IT IS!" Steve's voice yelled into Jack's helmet.

"What the heck...?" asked Nick, as the building itself shuddered, loud booms echoing outside.

"We came to save your butts!" Carl's voice came in.

"What's going on?" asked Jack.

Up above, Steve sat with the other Batmen in the Batjet.

"Just get out here... We're taking out Jokerz left and right! We have a full advantage, and you need to use it. Get out here... Fast!"

Jack agreed, and turned to Nick and Ron.

"Get out of here," he said.

"What about you?" asked Ron.

"I have things to take care of," replied Jack vaguely.

Nick decided not to question Jack after all that had happened, and led Ron up the stairs.

Jack looked down at the ground, to see that the chip he had ripped from his head was gone.

"No," he whispered.

With all he had in him, he sprinted up the stairs, going up each level as war broke out outside.

He reached the floor of Mister J's office, and charged the door.

He burst in, holding a batarang ready. His helmet surveyed the room.

No threats detected.

Suddenly, Jack was hit from behind, and he fell to the floor.

He turned around, to see Mister J step out of the shadows and into the pale moonlight.

He smiled, and chuckled evilly.

"The chip... Why did you take it?" asked Jack, standing back up.

"You told me that you knew where the Batcave was," said Mister J.

"I'll never tell you where it is, freak!" replied Jack, raising his fists.

"Ah, but you don't need to. This chip now contains _your_ thoughts, along with mine. Sure, it's a little banged up. But if I could have some repairs done, I'd have complete access to _all_ your little secrets!"

Jack scowled.

"I don't understand... Why me? Why was I the one you picked to be your successor? Why didn't you question the fact that Ron has the same exact face? And how did you bypass my suit's threat detection?"

"Because, Bats," said Mister J.

"I AM YOU. And as for Ron, well, he's a little too... Batty, for the job? Hahaha!"

Confused, Jack watched as Mister J pulled a handkerchief from his pocket.

Slowly, the villain wiped his face, removing the makeup.

By the time he was done, Jack was horrified to see his own face, smiling back at him.

"What's the matter, old Bat? You look like you've seen a ghost!" laughed Mister J.

Outside, bullets flew and the ground erupted in balls of flame.

"WOOHOO!" laughed Carl, piloting the aircraft.

"Down there! Look!"

Ron and Nick were sprinting through the rubble, shoving their way past Jokerz.

Pressing a button on the dashboard, a ladder lowered from the Batjet to the ground.

Ron and Nick climbed up.

Halfway there, a spray of bullets hit Nick's leg.

"AGH!" he screamed.

Ron looked down, and cussed.

"Come on, buddy! We can do this!"

They made it into the ship.

Megan and Gwen gasped as Ron helped Nick to a seat, blood seeping out of his suit.

"Why are all of you here? This is too dangerous!" shouted Nick.

"We're here to finish this thing," said Greg, adjusting his mask.

"We're going to hit the Jokerz where it hurts," added Rodney.

Ron wiped sweat from his brow.

"Jack, what do we do?" asked Gwen.

"I'm not Jack. I'm his... brother," said Ron.

"Well, whoever you are, you must have a plan?" asked Carl, firing off more missiles at the Jokerz.

"We need to get Nick back to the cave," said Ron.

"Turn this thing around, and get us home."

"No way! Jack's still in there!" argued Megan.

Greg said, "We made a pretty decent dent. If we attacked from land..."

"No," said Ron. "You have no idea what you're up against."

Carl turned around in his seat.

"We're talking about the monsters who killed my friends and made it look like I did it. I know what I'm up against, and I swore that I'd make sure they'd pay."

The space grew silent inside, as gunshots echoed in the distance.

Ron said, "I'll take it home. You stay here and fight, if that's what you want. Who's staying and who's going back?"

Carl got out of the pilot's seat, and moved into the back area.

"I'm stayin'," he growled.

Greg nodded.

"I'll fight."

Megan and Rodney stood up.

Steve gave them a worried glance, and Rodney put a hand on his shoulder.

"We fight together," he said.

Ron shook his head, but had nothing to say that'd change anyone's minds.

"Good luck!" was all he could say, as he took the pilot's position.

He flicked a switch, and a door opened on the side of the small space they stood in.

"Batmen! Take flight!" ordered Nightwing, and together, the team leapt out, gliding in to battle.

Steve landed in the middle of two Jokerz, and slammed their heads together with a comedic "bonk" sound.

Megan and Rodney teamed up on an armed guard, easily avoiding fire and landing heavy hits.

Carl stole a Joker's gun, and opened fire around him, taking the lives of several men.

Greg smashed his fists into the thugs like they were nothing.

Batarangs flew through the air and bullets were fired as the conflict continued, the stakes growing higher as the Jokerz fell in numbers.

Back up in the tower, Jack backed away from the horror he faced.

"You... You survived the attack?" he gasped.

"Jack, are you really that thick?" asked Mister J. "_ALL_ of us survived! The Batmen!"

Jack's head spinned as his world was turned upside down. All along, he and Ron were not two of a kind, but only a fraction of Chance's successors.

"Where are they?" asked Jack.

"Some dead. Others alive. It's hard to keep track, you know?" laughed Mister J.

"What do you mean? How do you know what happened to them?" asked Jack.

Mister J giggled, and said, "Let me start from the beginning..."


	19. A Lot of Explaining to Do

Mister J cleared his throat dramatically.

"There was a place, out on the shoreline of Gotham, where I was raised and made the man I am today.

The Jokerz were eager to have the gift of the little 'Bat Boys,' an entire family of identical brothers.

Soon after we could walk, the Jokerz put us through... tests. They discovered that we all possessed a trait of some man, the one that haunted us all in our dreams.

We were too young to realize what the dreams meant, why we existed. We didn't even know that the Jokerz were using us... Raising a special ops force unlike anything the Jokerz had possessed before.

I was always different from the others. Some of them were smart. Some were strong. I was... disturbed. My mind was haunted by visions of scary men and women, of terrible crimes and violence. It was then that the Jokerz realized what good old Chance Whidmore had unknowingly passed down to me... The memories of his foes."

Jack stared at Mister J, a sudden sense of pity filling his mind. He was lucky.

Mister J continued, "So they took me out of their little 'program,' to move on to greater activities. I never heard about the operation again, except that it was shut down.

"I was made the personal assistant of none other than Mister J himself. I was thrilled. He set me on the true path of villainy, although I still wonder what it would be like to be some of Batman's other foes."

"Either way, I was raised to do this job, and by the time I was 18, the mind of Mister J was transferred to my little brain, and here I am now, better than I was then!"

Jack shook his head, and said, "I don't understand... If we're the same age, why would you want to make me Mister J, when you could obviously keep going?"

Mister J nodded thoughtfully, and replied, "Because this job can be tiresome. I love it to bits, but I'd give anything to shove it away. And now that you won't join me, I'll have to use this little chip to make sure you're still of use to me."

Jack raised his fists.

"You're sick," he growled, throwing a punch.

"Uh-uh-uhh!" cooed Mister J, as he caught Jack's wrist and made a cut in Jack's torso with his knife.

Jack cried out in pain, and kicked Mister J into the opposite wall.

"Oooh..." he said, wobbling back into the fight.

Down below, in the main courtyard, the Batmen had nearly finished off the Jokerz.

"Let's get inside, and finish this thing," said Carl, reloading his assault rifle and charging the main doors.

He shoved the large doors open, and raised his gun to scan the area.

"We're good," he called, and the whole team entered the main lobby.

It appeared that nearly all the Jokerz had either died or been rendered unconscious in the fight outside, so the room was empty.

"HUD says that Jack is on the top floor," said Greg.

The team found an elevator, and hopped in.

As the small room rose, Rodney said, "I bet Jack's up there kicking Mister J's butt. We've basically won this fight."

"Let's hope so," said Carl, as the lift stopped on the top floor.

The team moved down a hallway, following the signal in their heads up displays.

They reached a large pair of wooden doors, and kicked them open.

But, they weren't ready for what they saw.

The whole team gasped, seeing two Jacks fighting one another.

And then, out of nowhere, Gwen screamed.

"HE'S GORGEOUS!" she giggled, shoving past the rest of the Batmen, and up to Mister J.

"Gwen... What are you..." began Jack, as she stood in front of Mister J.

"Don't you dare touch this man, Jack!" she yelled.

"What's happening?" Rodney whispered to Steve, who shrugged.

"Ah, I see the Joker toxin had some unexpected results," noted Mister J.

"YOU KNOW IT!" exclaimed Gwen planting a kiss on Mister J's lips.

"Gwen, move!" shouted Jack, shoving her out of the way and delivering a punch to Mister J's smiling face.

"The girl distracted me!" yelled Mister J.

"GIVE ME THE CHIP!" Jack shouted, throwing Mister J into his desk.

"Out of my way. I'm going to finish this clown off," growled Carl, but Greg blocked his way.

"No," he said. "This is between Jack and... Whatever Mister J is."

Mister J laughed as Jack beat him up. His nose bled, and ran down into his suit as he chuckled.

Jack threw him onto the ground, and Carl yelled, "Hey!"

Jack looked to his left, and caught a gun that Carl lightly tossed.

Jack put a foot down on Mister J, and aimed his weapon.

His own face looked back at him, giggling like a child.

"Do it! I dare you!" laughed Jack's brother.

Jack's trigger finger tensed, as he battled with his conscience.

This was a man who had devoted his entire life to ruin the lives of others. He was a murderer. A lunatic.

_I DON'T KILL._

The thought echoed in Jack's mind.

Jack let out a frustrated sigh, his eyes dark with fury.

"Do it!" ordered Carl.

Jack threw the gun aside, and picked up Mister J by his shirt collar.

"You're not worth it," he said, and knocked out his foe with a punch.

Gwen cried, adding to everyone's confusion.

"Jack, can you explain to us what exactly is going on?" asked Greg.

"When we get home," said Jack, wiping blood from his chin.


	20. Beginning of the End

The team returned to the Batcave.

Nick was in a wheelchair, bandaged. Gwen was kept isolated in a prison cell installed in the cave, with Mister J chuckling in the cell beside her.

They all faced Jack, who stood by the Batcomputer.

Jack took a deep breath, and said, "Mister J, Ron, and I are not pure humans. We're _clones_."

The crowd let out a slight gasp.

"There was a time when the last Batman, a man named Chance Whidmore, had been defeated. He couldn't stop the Jokerz. So he tried to create a squadron with his own DNA to grow up to be just like him and take down the Jokerz and end their authority. But, the Jokerz captured the clones when they were only infants, and attempted to raise them as an elite fighting force."

Mister J chuckled in the distance.

The Batmen only gave him a distateful glance. He didn't deserve any more attention.

"I was lucky," continued Jack. "Chance was only able to save me, and left me with a loving family."

Mr. and Mrs. Dominic smiled.

"But there were problems with Chance's plan. He assumed all of his children would inherit every aspect of his being. He was wrong. Some of us received abilities that others didn't. Ron has scientific knowledge I can't even wrap my head around, and as for Mister J... Let's just say, we all have our dark sides."

The Batmen stared over at the criminal, giggling under his breath in his cell with Gwen gawking at him.

"But it doesn't matter who, or what we are. Like I said when we started this thing, we're a family. And together, we will bring down the Jokerz. This is the beginning of the end. The Jokerz are weak. They lack any form of leadership now that Mister J is with us, and we've crippled their forces."

Mister J began to laugh hysterically, gripping his stomach.

"YOU'RE _KILLING_ ME!" he coughed.

Jack shook his head.

"Tonight, we're going to spread the word. We are taking back Gotham!"

All of the Batmen cheered, throwing their fists into the air.

"Don't worry, Mister J. We'll get outta this," whispered Gwen.

Mister J laughed.

"Tell me something I _don't_ know," he replied.

Later, Nick sat at the Batcomputer with Carl and Jack.

"Can you get past their security?" asked Jack.

"Security? They barely have anything safe from us!" said Nick.

With the press of a button, a microphone was activated, broadcasting to all speakers in Gotham City.

"Citizens of Gotham, our time is now. Mister J is in the captivity of the Batmen, leaving the Jokerz without leadership. Their reign has ended. If capable, do not be afraid to strike out against our oppressors. We are taking back Gotham."

A rumbling noise shattered the silence that followed the end of the call.

"What is that?" asked Jack.

"It's the citizens... They're cheering. All of them," exclaimed Steve.

Jack smiled, and turned to his team.

"I have work to do. I won't be gone long, but I have work that you need to do as well. Ron, I need you to repair the chip we confiscated from Mister J."

Ron nodded, and sat down with tools at a desk near the Batmobile.

"Carl, keep an eye on Mister J and Gwen," Jack ordered.

Carl nodded.

"Nick, get to work on finding that location for me," Jack said.

Nick went to work on the Batcomputer.

"As for everyone else, be ready. War has started."


	21. A Pleasant Surprise

Winter had started in Gotham, as snow fell around Jack. His breath was visible as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop, occasionally gliding with his cape when the spaces were too big.

"Nick, how's the search coming?" asked Jack.

In his earpiece, Nick's voice replied, "Done. You couldn't have given me an easier target. This place was key to Batman's career."

The lenses on Jack's mask created an icon on top of a building in the distance.

"Thanks, pal," said Jack.

Jack got getting closer and closer, his excitement building.

"What's up with Gwen?" asked Nick.

"I have no idea," said Jack, gliding from one roof to a lower building below.

"Steve said that she coughed up some of the cure when they gave it to her... But now she isn't the same. She's in love with him. In love with _you._"

Jack stopped his jog, and scowled.

"Mister J and I are nothing alike. Don't you even suggest..."  
"Sorry, sorry," said Nick. "Just saying. Kinda weird how she falls for your twin."

"The toxin must've altered her sanity. Mister J's toxin promotes his behavior before the victim dies. Gwen must still be at the toxin's mercy," Jack theorized.

"Well, do you know how we can fix her? I really miss her... The old her," said Nick.

Jack shook his head as he reached a building, the icon in his HUD showing his destination was on the roof.

"No time to worry about that now. This is war time," said Jack.

Jack climbed up the building, using the boarded up windows as handholds. This place hadn't been used for years.

Using his Batclaw grappling hook, Jack reeled himself up to the roof, and walked over to a large object hidden underneath a sheet.

"Let's give the Jokerz something to fear," said Jack, ripping away the sheet.

In front of him was a spotlight. Its glass was slightly cracked, the metal rim around it rusted.

Jack rotated it, and aimed the lens towards the sky.

Jack pulled a mini generator from his belt, and slapped it onto the light.

Flickering, the spotlight struggled to shine.

Then, a brilliant beam shot into the sky, with the symbol of a bat gliding in the middle.

"The Bat signal is lit!" exclaimed Jack.

Just then, gun shots echoed. Bullets whizzed past Jack, just barely missing him.

"Uh-oh. I've got trouble," said Jack.

Two Jokerz squatted on a lower building, rifles aimed at the Batman.

Out of nowhere, two young men in black clothing and hockey masks ran up, and strangled the villains from behind.

They saluted Jack, who did the same back to them.

"I cannot believe it. It worked," said Nick, watching the whole thing from the Batcomputer.

"Good job, boys!" called Jack.

"Not boys," one replied. "Batmen."


	22. With a Z

Ron squinted through his magnified glasses, carefully repairing the small chip Jack had tasked him with.

He was almost done with the repairs, and his imagination was going wild.

_This is a near complete record of Jokerz history. We'd know all of their secrets. Their motives. Why they do what they do... All in this little piece of machinery._

On the other end of the Batcave, Mister J giggled.

"You want to hear a funny story, Gwenny?" he asked.

"Definitely," said Gwen leaning on the side of her cell to get a better view of Mister J.

"A while back, when I realized Gotham could get overcrowded, I came up with a little plan," said Mister J.

"I decided that I'd frame innocent people as an excuse to execute them! Limit the population!"

Gwen giggled, "VERY clever, Mister J!"

Outside, with his arms crossed and back to the cell, Carl scowled. He wished he could pound the life out of Mister J, but Jack said not to touch him. They needed him, apparently.

"And there was this one time, this hilarious time," continued Mister J.

"A man just happened to be spending time with some friends. A little get together. And a squad of Jokerz called it in. I cleared their request, and they fired away at the little group! Only one was left! So we put the blame on him!"

Carl's fists tightened, his knuckles white.

"And then... And then... He ended up here, to become one of Jack's little 'sidekicks.'"

Carl lost it. He lunged at Mister J's cell, catching the man's purple suit in his hand and slamming him into the bars of the cell.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TAKE ME WITH THEM!?" cried Carl.

"Because there's no fun in that!" laughed Mister J.

Carl went mad.

Over at the Batcomputer, Nick yelled, "Hey! Carl! Cut it out!"

But Carl was in a blind rage.

Ron was almost finished with repairing the chip, when Jack entered the cave.

"HEY! HEY! What's going on here?" he yelled, running over to Carl and pulling him away.

Carl's face was dripping with sweat, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he breathed out his frustration.

"HE DESERVES TO _DIE_!" he shouted, pointing at Mister J.

Mister J cackled, blood dripping from his nose.

"Oh, not again!" called out Gwen, giving Carl a dirty look.

Jack put his hands on Carl's shoulders, and said, "Look. He's a bad man. I know. But he wants you mad. He's out of options, except for one last trick. He wants to turn us against each other."

Carl shook his head, and pushed Jack away.

"Look at you. Just take a minute, and look at yourself, running around in your little fancy suit. You were made for this. This is your life. And just like the Bats before you... You're making a mistake. You're letting your little 'code of honor' keep you from what has to be done. Putting men like _him_ down. For good."

Jack stepped in front of Mister J's cell, in a defensive stance.

"Killing is not the way. We can use him still."

Carl stared at Jack, his eyes cold.

"Use him? For what! We've got all he ever was in a... In a frickin' computer chip! He's a killer, and that's all he is. We don't need him as long as we've got that chip."

Jack shook his head.

"We can't kill him."

"You know what, I think Carl has the right idea. We've got _children_ here. I don't feel safe living in a place with a murderer ready to kill anyone in sight," said Greg.

"NO!" called out Steve, walking over to the little argument.

"What kind of example are we setting for little Rodney? Killing is wrong. No matter what's happened in the past!"

"Yeah, well if it weren't for that monster, 'little Rodney' would still have an aunt," argued Carl.

Gwen's jaw dropped, and she grasped for Carl through the bars of her cell.

"What'd you say about me!?" she shouted.

"Psh. You people are pathetic. All of you," growled Carl, walking away.

Just then, Ron stood up, and said, "I'm done. The chip is functional."

Nick looked at him and replied, "Well, plug it into the Batcomputer."

Ron walked over, and plugged the small device into a port on the desk.

Instantly, a wicked red smile appeared on the screen, along with the horrendous chuckling of the Jokerz.

A map of Gotham became visible, along with a blinking green light on their location.

"NO! IT'S A GPS!" shouted Ron.

In his cell, Mister J laughed.

"Shut it down!" yelled Jack, rushing over.

Ron swiped the chip away from the desk, but Mister J yelled, "It's too late! My friends are coming!"

"_The Jokerz know where we're hiding!"_ yelled Greg.

"Oh, not the Jokerz," said Mister J. "I call these guys 'the Batz.' With a z, in case you didn't understand."


	23. Batz

"What do you mean by, 'Bats with a z?'" asked Jack.

"Oh, silly me. I forgot to mention what happened to our brothers... See, their program was cancelled, but I started my own program early on in my career."

Ron frowned, and said, "There's no way you could convince the rest of Chance's clones to work for you... They're built to serve Batman's cause."

Mister J wiggled his finger.

"Tut, tut, tut! Anything is possible with a little bit of fear and pain!"

"You sick son of a..."

Greg rushed towards Mister J's cell, but Jack pushed him away.

"What are you doing, Jack? There's no sense keeping him here! He's got a squad of deranged... _Yous_ coming here to kill us, and you're defending him!" roared Greg.

"Please, don't hurt my Mister J!" cried Gwen.

"Shut up!" yelled Ron.

Jack looked at Mister J, and said, "What are these people capable of? Busting in to a secure underground lair? Do they really have the power to take out a group of heroes?"

"You tell me," said Mister J, as the lights shut down.

"What's happening?" cried Megan.

"Hello? Who is that... GAH!" shouted Greg.

Sounds of fighting and struggle came from the darkness.

Jack's head was spinning. Someone was in the Batcave.

He slipped his mask back on to his head, and activated a weak nocturnal vision.

Slowly, he crept around, looking for any signs of an attacker.

Suddenly, someone grabbed him from behind, catching him in a headlock.

Jack struggled to break free, as the sound of cell doors opening echoed behind him.

"NO!" he yelled, throwing his attacker away and turning around to face him.

The man was wearing a bizarre hybrid Batman/Jokerz suit.

Then, the lights flickered back on, to reveal a scene that sickened Jack to his stomach.

For every Batman, there was a Batz member behind their back, holding a weapon to their head.

Jack saw that the underground entrance and the elevator were open.

Another of Mister J's Batz swept up from behind, and placed a blade of some sort to Jack's neck.

Mister J stood in front of the Batcomputer triumphantly, with Gwen under his arm.

"How could you do this?" yelled Jack.

"We're brothers! We're Chance Whidmore's legacy! We aren't meant to fight! We were meant to work together! As a team!" shouted Jack.

Mister J cackled.

"It's been fun, Jack. It really has. But alas, all games must come to an end. Your Batmen put up a good fight, but in the end, did you really think you'd win?"

Jack struggled with all his might, but the Bat behind him didn't budge.

"It's amazing how we never could find this place on our own," chuckled Mister J.

"Although, when your brains are as corrupted as ours, is it really that easy to blame us for some memory loss?"

"What are you going to do to us?" cried Cathy.

Mister J laughed.

"Kill them," he ordered his Batz, as he and Gwen hopped onto Steve's bike.

But just then, one of the Batz let go of his captive.

With inhuman speed, he threw bladed cards that took out each of his fellow Batz, and then threw one at Mister J.

Gwen shouted, "NO!"

She dove off of the bike, and the card hit her chest.

She fell to the ground, and Mister J sighed.

"I always had a bad feeling about you, Number 5," he said. He drove away, as the shocked Bat trudged over to Gwen's body.


	24. Preparation

"Gwen!" cried Nick, who wheeled over.

Gwen lay on the ground, blood seeping from the wound.

"Is there anything... Anything we can do?" asked the bizarre Bat, his voice slightly distorted by an unknown source.

Ron picked up Gwen, and carried her into one of the side rooms.

"I need supplies!" shouted Ron.

In a daze, Jack rushed into the room, shoving his first batsuit off of the table and mopping up Gwen's wound.

Ron stopped looking at Gwen and immediately went to the suit.

He was yelling something at Jack, but none of the words made sense to him.

This was a new low. Mister J had tried to kill his family. His friends. And now one of them had their life on the line.

Ron shook his head and left the room.

This snapped Jack back to reality, and he chased after Ron.

"Hey! What are you doing!?" shouted Jack.

"This suit... Why didn't you tell me you had this!?" yelled Ron.

"Why does it matter? Gwen's back there dying!" roared Jack.

"Because if you put me in this thing, I can take Mister J down once and for all!" shouted Ron.

Jack said, "What?"

Ron replied, "You didn't know what you were doing before, did you? This bad boy can do so much... I'll fix it up, and then I'm going to end this."

"No... You'll fix it, and I will end this. I'm going to finish what I started. Tonight," said Jack.

Jack rushed back to Gwen. Luckily, Cathy had education in the medical field, and was working feverishly to fix her up.

"Is she going to make it?" asked Nick.

"I'm doing my best to ensure that," replied Cathy, cleaning the wound.

Gwen stared blankly ahead, in shock.

What seemed like days passed by, until the job was done.

Gwen lay asleep, her nephew snuggling next to her in a makeshift hospital bed.

"Thank God," said Nick.

The Bat stood in the corner, away from the people who cared for Gwen. Guilt overwhelmed him. All through his training, the memories of his predecessor powered his morals. He resisted Mister J's twisted tests and training as best as he could. And in the end, he couldn't even make the kill. He took an innocent instead.

Jack rushed out to Ron, who stood over the batsuit. It's red lights were blinking off and on.

"It's a bit glitchy, but she's ready to go," said Ron, looking up at Jack.

"How's Gwen?" he asked.

"Fine. No thanks to you," Jack replied.

Ron said, "You'll have plenty to thank me for when this is all said and done."

Jack put the batsuit on, and the Bat walked up to him.

"May I... May I assist you?" he asked.

"No. I am doing this alone," growled Jack.

The Bat bowed his head sadly.

Then, he looked up and said, "Good luck."

Jack nodded, and left.

He was going to end this, once and for all.


	25. The Final Battle

Mister J hadn't realized that there was a tracer inside of the bike he stole.

Jack glided above the streets below, chaotic with a war that must have started not long ago.

CItizens were in the streets, fighting off the Jokerz. Some were dressed in all black, to show that they were on Batman's side.

The buggy heads up display showed Jack that Mister J had parked the bike a few blocks down, inside of a warehouse. The icons blinked on and off, struggling to operate correctly.

The boot jets propelled Jack to the signal.

He landed outside of the run down establishment, and kicked down the weak, rusty entrance.

"Mister J!" Jack yelled, stepping into the darkness of the building.

The bike was parked over in a corner, which Jack saw as soon as the night vision feature kicked in.

Like Ron said, the suit was having some minor technical difficulties. Every few seconds, the night vision would cut out, rendering the hero blind.

He looked down on the floor, to see a trail of blood.

He slowly followed the trail, as it led him across the warehouse to a stairway.

Jack climbed the steps, each one blotted with the crimson liquid.

Every other step, his vision would go dark.

He reached the top, and saw that the trail led into a small office that overlooked the area below.

Quietly, he stepped in, looking for any sign of Mister J.

Jack found that the trail ended in the middle of the room.

He bent down, and put his finger into the blood. Ron had showed him that the finger tips contained highly advanced sensors, and the suit told him that the blood belonged to him.

Which actually meant that it belonged to Mister J.

Jack's vision cut out again, and he stood up.

_Why does the trail end here? _he thought.

He looked up, just as his vision blacked out again.

This time, it took longer for it to boot back up.

Seconds before it did, however, he felt the light patter of something dripping on one of his lenses.

_Oh no._

The night vision reactivated, but it was too late.

Mister J's twisted, smiling face came flying at him from the ceiling above. He had been hanging from the metal beams that riddled the space.

Jack fell to the ground, as Mister J began to throw punches like crazy.

"I still have a chance, Bat!" he shrieked between hits.

"You haven't won yet!" shouted Jack, throwing Mister J back.

The nightvision showed the clown hit a wall, and then it cut out.

"You had some nifty little trinkets in the armory," chuckled Mister J.

"Hope you don't mind that I borrowed some of those special lenses you use in your suit."

Jack cursed. Mister J had full nightvision.

His sights came back online, to see Mister J's foot connect with his face.

Jack flew backward, and smashed through the wall of the office.

He tried to flip around and hit the landing, but there was no time. He hit the ground hard.

"Hahaha!" laughed Mister J in a more irritated tone than before.

Jack wheezed, the wind knocked out of him.

The suit was able to cushion his fall somewhat, but he was very dazed.

He propped himself up on his hands and knees, only to get a kick to the gut from Mister J.

"Jack! Remember those little tricks I showed you?" said Ron in Jack's earpiece.

Coughing, Jack bumped his fist to his hip, and a batarang sprung out of the leg armor. He grabbed it and threw it at Mister J.

"AGH!" he yelled, falling backward.

Jack got up, his body shaky. The fall had taken a toll on him.

"Let's finish this!" shouted Jack, charging forward and landing a punch in Mister J's face.

"I agree!" shouted the villain, jabbing his knife towards Jack.

Batman's vision cut out as he ducked, just avoiding the attack.

"This is for all those poor people you killed," mumbled Jack, kicking Mister J's leg.

"This is for my friends," said Jack, elbowing Mister J in the nose.

"And this is for GOTHAM!" he shouted, kicking Mister J square in the stomach and sending him flying backward, into a pile of boxes that fell around him.

When the boxes sat still, a hand reached out, and Mister J climbed after it.

"I like that you really care about this dirtbag of a town," said Mister J, the annoyance obvious in his voice.

"I like that you embrace your heritage," added Mister J.

"But what I _don't_ like," he shouted, trudging toward Jack.

"Is the fact that you think you can _win_!"

Mister J pulled out a gun, and fired up above.

Jack looked up to see a massive storage container, the rope to which had just been severed.

He jumped away, as the box smashed down.

But Mister J hadn't realized was that it was full of dangerous chemicals.

Liquid flooded out of the container, over Jack and Mister J.

Jack wiped the slime off of his suit, and sloshed over to Mister J, who was completely exposed to it.

"AH! AH! AH! AHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHA!" shouted Mister J, as his skin burned.

Jack backed away, as Mister J laughed insanely.

"What's the matter, Jack-o?" asked Mister J, trying to hide the pain.

The skin color that the nightvision could pick up was completely washed away. Mister J was as white as a ghost.

"It feels... It feels great. I'm not gonna lie, Bats! YOU SHOULD TRY IT!"

Mister J leapt forward and grabbed Jack's mask, pulling it away.

"NO! ENOUGH!"

Mister J's hand was covered in the chemical, and he slowly lowered it to Jack's face.

"This is what you get for turning my people against me," said Mister J.

"We were never with you from the start," said a voice in the distance, as a card flew into Mister J's head.

Mister J tumbled backward, and collapsed on the ground.

Jack turned around, putting on his mask.

When the night vision re-activated, he saw Mister J's last Batz member standing there.

"Maybe I should have asked you to come along after all," said Jack.

The man nodded, and proceeded to remove his mask.

Jack was shocked to see a troubled, damaged version of his face. His brother had very short hair, presumably the result of a buzzcut.

Long scars ran from the corners of his mouth and up his cheeks. His eyes were dark with a permanent sadness.

"What did he do to you?" asked Jack with astonishment.

The figure just smiled sadly, and put his mask back on.

"Too much," he said.

Together, the brothers stepped back outside, leaving Mister J to rest in peace.

The citizens of Gotham were winning. They were pushing back the Jokerz, under the glowing image of a bat in the sky.

"You have done well. Chance would be proud," said the Bat.

"Thanks... What is your name?"

"Alfred," said the man.

"Thank you, Alfred," said Jack.

By the end of the night, the war was won. All of the Jokerz were either killed in battle or captured.

The citizens of Gotham raised a flag displaying a spray-painted bat, cheering.

Jack returned to the Batcave with Alfred. The Batmen clapped. On the Batcomputer, a news channel was broadcasting that Gotham citizens had managed to free themselves, and had reestablished the connection to the outside world that the Jokerz had cut off. Jack was shocked to hear that special defense weaponry was also shut down. He had never known that Gotham was so isolated.

There was also talk of a nuclear weapon deep in the heart of the city, that would've been triggered if anyone had tried to breach Gotham. A city called... Metropolis, was sending people to investigate it and help the citizens restart Gotham.

Nick held hands with Gwen, who smiled. She was back to her normal self, the shock of her injury got rid of any remaining effects of the Joker toxin. Rodney sat in her lap, holding onto her. Mr. and Mrs. Dominic hugged Jack. The kids cheered. The day was saved. Gotham was once again free of the Jokerz.

"Nice job, Jack," said Carl, patting him on the back.

"Thank you," said Cathy, giving Jack a kiss on the cheek.

Greg smiled and said, "Our firstborn won't have to grow up under Jokerz jurisdiction."

Jack smiled at Cathy, who looked at her stomach affectionately. He hadn't noticed, but she had a small bump forming.

The day was theirs. Gotham was no longer a victim to criminal tyranny. It belonged to the people.


	26. Epilogue

Rain was common in Gotham during the spring. Too often, in many people's opinion.

Lightning crackled in the sky above, as a young woman struggled to make her way home. She tried to keep her umbrella from being swept away with the wind, her purse tucked loosely under her arm.

Out of nowhere, a man ran by, snatching the purse on his way.

"Thanks, lady!" he shouted.

"NO! PLEASE!" yelled the woman.

But the thief had made a clean getaway.

He ducked into an alley, and sat down under a small square of cover in a doorway to the back of some rundown restaurant.

He licked his lips, unzipping the purse and looking at the contents inside.

He had hit it big time. Lots of cash.

He laughed to himself and stood up, zipping the purse back shut.

He walked forward, and found someone to be blocking his path.

In horror, the crook looked up to see his greatest fear.

"No..." whimpered the criminal.

The man swept his cape up, casting the man in darkness.

Hours later, the woman sat in her living room, depressed.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

She rushed to get it, and found her purse sitting on the doorstep.

Opening the door, no one was in sight.

She picked up the purse, and found a note tucked into the side.

She pulled it out, and unfolded it.

A sketch of a bat dominated the page, confirming that the Batmen had served yet another citizen in need.


End file.
